Horizon looks beyond lithum to beat WA heat

Zinc bromine and sodium sulphur batteries will be tested at microgrids in regional Western Australia, as Horizon Power looks to beat the impacts of heat on its remote storage solutions.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will allocate $2.85 million to a $5.7 million project to test two novel long duration energy storage technologies at Nullagine and Carnarvon.

The spend will be used by Horizon Power to install and trial the technology – a 100 kilowatt/400-kilowatt hour zinc bromine battery designed by Brisbane-based Redflow, and a 250KW/1,450KWH sodium sulphur design by the Australian arm of European multinational BASF which will be supplied and installed by Allset Energy at Carnarvon.

The project will test the ability of the batteries to store power generated by solar for use in the evening and assess whether the batteries will work alongside lithium-ion batteries in the network.

Horizon has a number of lithium-ion batteries on its networks but has identified the need for longer-duration energy storage within its portfolio, which spans areas of WA outside the main South West Interconnected System grid.

Horizon chief executive Stephanie Unwin said the trial would continue the utility’s exploration of energy storage capable of withstanding extreme temperatures.

“Horizon Power was an early adopter in battery energy storage, and for the past 15 years we have been exploring how energy storage can best be used to promote increased uptake of renewable energy across regional WA,” she said.

ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said the government recognised there was now a need to find new sources of medium and long-term duration dispatchable renewable storage.

“Renewable dispatchable technologies such as solar PV and wind combined with lithium-ion battery energy storage systems, and pumped hydro are well established, however, there are characteristics of each that may not be suited to all locations, particularly in locations with extreme heat,” he said.  

“Horizon Power’s project, if proven successful, could see these innovative battery technologies become an important part of our energy mix in regional communities.” 

If successful, the Horizon trial will validate the viability of the alternate battery chemistries in remote microgrids, reducing risk in future deployment and guiding an accelerated rollout of energy management systems across WA.

The BASF battery will be the first of its kind to be connected to a regulated network and a Distributed Energy Management System platform in Australia.

The CSIRO’s Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap, released last year, highlighted cost and efficiency concerns for lithium ion battery technology when used in warmer environments due.