Energy storage for Australia is a hot topic these days as the country wrestles with how to best address numerous grid reliability challenges. Mark Leslie, Fluence's Managing Director for Asia Pacific, was a recent guest on RenewEconomy's Energy Insiders podcast to discuss the opportunity for energy storage growth in Australia and Fluence's 30 MW energy storage project that is under construction in Ballarat, Victoria. The energy storage project is in partnership with AusNet Services, EnergyAustralia and Spotless Sustainability Services and will address reliability and increased renewable integration for the grid north of Ballarat.
In the podcast, hosted by Giles Parkinson and David Leitch, Mark shares insights about how energy storage can help utilities, power developers and large energy users in Australia address challenges in their power networks.
Energy storage is key tool for providing reliability and flexibility to address stressors in the power system including:
- demand at fringe of grid;
- load growth in key distribution areas; and
- fast growth in solar PV adoption.
Australia has an advantage over many other deregulated markets—there, a transmission company is able to own a storage asset and partner with other companies to ensure the full utilization of the asset, opening up new partnership models. In this case, AusNet Services owns the Ballarat project, and EnergyAustralia will operate the asset to help manage their portfolio in Australia.
Check out the full episode on Energy Insiders below:
Preview of the Fluence energy storage installation in Ballarat, Victoria:
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