50MW/50MWh! Fluence provides battery energy storage systems for AGL deployments

　　Fluence, a global energy storage system integrator and service provider, said a few days ago that it will provide a battery energy storage system for the 50MW/50MWh energy storage project deployed in Australia, which will be used to demonstrate the ability of smart inverter technology to support the stable operation of the Australian grid.

　　Broken Hill in New South Wales is a historic mining site that operates a large-scale solar and wind power facility. However, the area's connection to the grid is weak. When electricity supply exceeds local demand, locally generated renewable electricity has to be curtailed, and the variability of wind and solar generation creates problems for managers of local grids.

　　The planned deployment of Broken Hill's large-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage system will be equipped with grid-connected inverters, which will increase power system strength and allow for greater integration of renewable energy.

　　Major Australian utility AGL is developing and operating the battery storage project as part of its 850MW battery storage system currently being deployed.

　　Fluence will supply the battery storage system for the project and has signed a framework agreement with AGL in early 2021. Australian infrastructure services group Valmec will partner with Fluence to deploy the project.

　　The A$41 million ($30.88 million) battery storage project will be funded by Australia's National Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which has announced A$14.84 million in funding.

　　Darren Miller, chief executive of the Australian National Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), said the agency saw large-scale energy storage as an "area of focus" and the technology was a priority on the Australian government's technology roadmap.

　　"Battery storage systems have become critical to the proper operation of the power system, but we know that with grid-tied inverters, they can provide power that has traditionally been provided by fossil fuel generation facilities," Miller said. "We are particularly interested in learning about How AGL's Broken Hill battery energy storage project will leverage and demonstrate advanced inverter technology in vulnerable parts of the grid."

　　The region also has plans to deploy a 200MW/1,600MWh Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) project by Hydrostor, which has been selected by grid operator Transgrid to deploy and operate a larger scale with a longer duration energy storage system to directly alleviate brownouts and manage peak demand.

　　The announcement comes days after AGL's plans for another large battery storage project were approved by the NSW government. The project will be built at a coal-fired power plant that is about to be decommissioned in the state and will be sized at 500MW/2000MWh.

　　Markus Brokhof, Chief Operating Officer of AGL, said: “As Australia’s energy transition goals progress, we know that battery technology plays an important role in the deployment of energy storage and supporting energy supply. The unique grid environment facing the Broken Hill battery storage project is an opportunity for adoption This advanced inverter technology provides the opportunity to demonstrate how it can facilitate further penetration of renewable energy generation and increase the stability of the wider grid."

　　Fossil fuel power generation facilities (such as coal and natural gas) are typically synchronous, providing stability to the power system through their power quality while operating in continuous rotation. While variable renewables are the opposite, inverters can do the same thing and operate as a voltage source for the local electricity network.

　　Australia had battery energy storage to play this role in 2018, deploying the Commercial Renewable Energy + Storage (ESCRI) project in Dalrymple, South Australia, a similar 'grid edge' location. As the supplier of the demonstration project, Hitachi Energy provided a 30MW/8MWh battery energy storage system.

　　Fluence said recently that the Broken Hill battery energy storage project is unique in that it will remain in grid generation mode at all times, which can effectively respond to changes in grid voltage and frequency.

　　Aaron McCann, general manager of Fluence Australia, said, “The Broken Hill battery energy storage project’s power can be adjusted instantaneously, which enables rapid response to large changes in voltage or frequency. It will provide the fastest response of any battery-based energy storage system on the market today. "This rapid response will enable stable operation of the power system and suppress voltage oscillations and strengthen the grid system after failures in weak grid areas in the West Murray region."

　　The Australian government is very concerned about the promotion of new energy, and has consciously launched many favorable policies, and also operates through public utility projects. SES Power believes that Australia is obviously vast and sparsely populated, and the per capita construction cost of the power grid is huge. The local government can completely consider miniaturized and fragmented energy storage models. We also have many Australian customers using our high-quality lithium iron phosphate batteries (12V100Ah, 24V100Ah, 36V100Ah, etc.), which are widely used in our BESS, HESS (3KW inverter +48V100Ah), outdoor mobile energy storage and so on.