Hi Ash
I agree that GNX execution is less impressive.
One of the benefit of PHES is the life of plant which is about 5 times that of a battery plant. Also the technology is very standard and can be implemented without as much risk. Another is storage capacity range that can be tailored to suit the matching renewable generation assets.
This report shows the cost modelling for NEM opportunities for PHES.
from the summary:
"This study has identified total potential across the various identified PHES regions of around
24,100MW with energy in storage of 390GWh. This can be broken down in terms of storage size:
$1.48m/MW for 6 hours storage, $1.70m/MW for 12 hours, $2.11m/MW for 24 hours storage and
$2.75m/MW for 48 hours storage. The high cost of 48 hour storage projects is mainly due to a low
number of such projects.
The study has found that the cost of PHES projects vary across regions, generally in relation to the
number of potential project sites in each region. Based on the data for 6 hour storage duration
projects, Tasmania has the cheapest opportunities at an average of about $1.2M/MW installed.
Project costs in NSW regions range from $1.4m/MW to $1.6m/MW. Victorian sites have an average
capital cost of $1.5m/MW, Queensland regions range from $1.5m/MW to $1.7m/MW and South
Australian project costs average $1.9m/MW. Project costs generally increase for increased storage
durations."
The benchmarking showed these estimates were pessimistic by 25% or more.
Just thinking about that a bit more..
For opportunities near Bodangora, 12 hour storage was priced at about $1.5-1.8m/MW. So for a 200 MW plant it would be in the range of 300 to 360 million dollars. Applying the pessimism factor that may end up more like 240-288 million.
However, if you divide that by 5 for the life of the plant, we get 60-66 million for something equivalent to a battery system life.
Obviously capital would need earlier return for a commercial operation but not if the project is subsidized under a govt bond scheme or similar instrument.
Selling and buying to an existing PHES plant may be a more practical option to get Hydro in the mix from a capital use perspective for IFN it seems.
(20min delay)