The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced yesterday it would be providing nearly $14 million in funding for solar/storage related projects worth a total of $44.8 million.
Among the projects is research and development of a low-cost, modular and expandable sodium-ion battery storage solution; which will be demonstrated at Illawarra Flame House and Sydney Water’s Bondi Sewage Pumping Station.
Part of the University of Wollongong (UOW) project is the creation of a comprehensive report on the economic impact that sodium-ion-based batteries (and energy storage generally) will have on the uptake of renewable energy generation in Australia and abroad.
According to a report on the Illawarra Mercury, UOW’s Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials director Professor Shi Xue Dou said the technology would be a game-changer.
“It will provide a path for Australia to reduce demand on the grid and the cost of infrastructure upgrades for utilities,” he said.
It’s not the first time the potential of sodium-ion chemistry has been investigated locally. Researchers at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia were working on a water-based sodium-ion battery some years ago.
The other solar/storage projects to get an ARENA guernsey are:
- Integrating Concentrating Solar Thermal Energy into the Bayer Alumina Process – University of Adelaide
- Consumer energy systems providing cost-effective grid support (CONSORT) – Australian National University
- Real-time operational PV simulations for distribution network service providers – Australian National University
- A robotic vision system for automatic inspection and evaluation of solar plants – Australian National University
- Increasing the uptake of solar PV in strata residential developments – Curtin University of Technology
- Maximising solar PV with phase change thermal energy storage – University of South Australia
Two other projects were also funded, dealing with wave energy and biogas. Combined, ARENA is pitching in $17 million for the latest round of projects, which have a total overall value of more than $54 million.
“Each successful project is focused on delivering commercially viable solutions, aimed at solving a current industry challenges,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht.
“The rich array of industry partners shows the breadth of sectors that will be involved in the transformation of Australia’s energy networks and systems. Research institutions will join the resources, agriculture, finance and property development industries to deliver the projects alongside utilities, power companies and renewable energy businesses.”
