Hi all, and Season’s Greetings
…and today I across a story from last September which I’ll stick in a ‘spoiler’ for in case it’s ever relevant.
Basically it’s about how a $255m battery development in WA - planned for a wind farm about I.5hours drive north of Albany WA - was put on hold.
- The reason I thought it may become relevant to vanadium flow batteries in future (and relevant to AVL in particular) was due to the UK/N American vanadium battery builder, ‘Invinity’ - an AVL supplier - claims that wind power + VRFBs are a match ‘made in heaven’ (or at least one that brings costs down considerably **)
Invinity is currently working with Siemen’s wind turbine division, GAMESA* and Larry Zulch, the Invinity CEO says Vanadium batteries are competitive with lithium batteries when attached to wind turbines **.
Anyway the rain-checked proposal is for is 400 megawatt hours of storage capacity and reasons Infrastructure WA put the kibosh on the project included potential costs, issues to do with early adoption and the need to coordinate with other state enterprises like Synergy and Western Power
Seeing as the Invinity vanadium pilot battery being installed at Kununurra early next year by AVL is for Horizon - one of three WA state-owned power companies which include Synergy, I thought it likely more eyes than those of the Kununurra community and Horizon will be on the trial .. possibly including the Water Corporation’s and definitely including Infrastructure WA
Matt MckenzieThe West Australian
Thu, 14 September 2023 11:21AM
Biningup desalination plant, photo taken June 2012. Credit: Unknown/Supplied
Water Corporation has paused a planned $255 million investment in batteries after Infrastructure WA poured cold water on the idea.
The State Government utility made the sensational move into electricity in November 2022 when it announced a deal to buy and develop the second stage of the Flat Rocks Wind Farm development.
That would take the water supplier into a market dominated by another Government utility, Synergy.
About 5 per cent of power in Western Australia’s main grid is used by Water Corp to operate pumps and desalination plants. Their demand for electricity is expected to grow with a $1.6 billion desalination plant in Alkimos receiving the development green light on Tuesday.
Water Corporation worked up a plan to hit net zero by 2035, keep power costs under control and ensure reliability of its services, with the batteries a key plank of the strategy.
The proposal was to install 400 megawatt hours of storage capacity in two stages by mid-2026. For comparison, Synergy’s Kwinana big battery can store half that amount of electricity.
But InfrastructureWA — a body created by the State Government to assess investment proposals — flashed a warning light in a decision published earlier this month.
The scheme had “inherent risks” as an early adopter, the infrastructure umpire said, noting the Water Corporation’s “primary business is in water and not energy”.
The utility would need to coordinate closely with other State enterprises like Synergy and Western Power to avoid duplication.
InfrastructureWA also warned the project could not be financially justified if costs significantly exceeded the early estimates.
“There is also possible cost escalation and deliverability risk exposure, particularly given current market conditions and global activity in comparable energy transition projects,” the IWA analysis said.
A spokesman for Water Corporation said IWA’s recommendations were accepted and the plan was deferred until reforms in the State’s energy market could be implemented.
“On-site battery storage is one measure Water Corporation is exploring to ensure lowest-cost operational continuity during the transition to renewables, helping to meet its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 while supporting whole-of-government decarbonisation efforts,” the spokesman said.
He said the utility was focused on procuring enough generation and storage to meet requirements and confirmed the Flat Rocks 2 plan was still progressing.
“Other comments on the business case are generic in nature and have been applied to similar large capital projects recently reviewed by IWA,” the spokesman said.
“Water Corporation is continuing to work closely with various arms of government to support the whole-of-government approach to decarbonisation.”
Soms references to VRFB’s and wind power:
* Invinity and Siemens/GamesA (… “ a few years ago, they determined that vanadium flow batteries made a lot of sense from their perspective for working with wind. So we entered into a joint development process with them.
“Well, we're getting close.Next year, we'll be announcing the product formally and the first customer ship.”[ ref] )
** Invinity CEO Larry Zulch claim was at a Prague conference last June; [ref]
“When paired with wind power, Invinity’s batteries can deliver power at 25–30% less cost than lithium-ion systems, ……...
“By 2030, flow batteries could be storing about 61 MW h of electricity each year and generating annual sales for producers of more than $22 billion, Zulch said.
“We have a big opportunity here. The numbers are staggering. Energy companies are obvious customers. Utilities such as wastewater treatment plants are also seeking energy security and want to avoid peak-time electricity tariffs….”
(20min delay)