Grid emissions hit record low, as renewables displace coal and prices plunge

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AGL targets 1.2GW of new battery storage by 2024, plans tender

AGL Energy has set a goal of installing 1,200MW of new battery storage and demand response capacity by 2024, and is tying the bonuses for executives and senior management to hit growth targets for the company’s clean energy and storage portfolio.
The new targets were revealed by AGL Energy during the company’s earnings call for the 2019-20 financial year, with the company highlighting its efforts to diversify its energy portfolio into clean energy technologies, as the company reported a lower profit as earnings from its coal generators took a hit.
“Although energy prices are lower, we still see an opportunity to invest as the composition of the portfolio shifts away from coal towards the new firmed renewable energy generation the market will need,” AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof said.
“AGL’s strategy is to optimise dispatchable generation, support investment in firmed renewables and continue to invest in the accelerating emergence of batteries and other energy storage technologies.”
Despite the disruptions being caused by Covid-19, AGL said that it was looking to expand its portfolio of clean energy projects, especially storage capacity, and is targeting up to 850MW of grid scale battery storage, as well as 350MW of distributed storage and demand response capacity by 2024.

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This represents a massive expansion of AGL’s storage capacity, which currently includes just 30MW of large-scale storage (the Dalrymple battery in South Australia) and 72MW of distributed energy resources (mostly with the South Australia battery initiative), with AGL set to seek proposals from the market for the delivery of the large-scale storage projects.

“In fact, we are currently inviting tenders to procure integrated battery systems, which could satisfy the entire grid scale storage target. We believe battery technology is now at a level that allows AGL to lead Australia’s transition to a smarter and more efficient energy future,” Brokhof added.
AGL is currently progressing plans to add battery storage capacity to a number of its existing operations, including a 100MW/150MWh battery set to accompany the massive Wandoan solar farm in Queensland, as well as a series of large-scale battery storage totalling 200MW/400MWh, including one battery to be built alongside the delayed Sunraysia solar farm in partnership with Maoneng.
AGL’s documents suggested that it was still considering plans for a big 50MW battery in Broken Hill, where AGL already operates a 53MW solar farm and the 200MW Silverton wind farm, but it is likely get squeezed out by a Transgrid preference for the world’s biggest compressed-air storage facility to create one of the world’s biggest renewable energy micro-grids.
A battery for the site of the Liddell coal generator, scheduled for closure by 2023 despite the jaw-boning efforts of the federal government, is also included.