Australia’s energy sector is undergoing significant transformation, with a rapid acceleration of wind and solar generation and retiring coal plant expected in the late 2020s.
The energy market transition is well underway. Australia is rapidly shifting to clean sources of energy generation like wind and solar.
That brings its own challenge as you can't rely on wind and solar alone to power Australia. You need energy storage as back-up when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. This provides a perfect opportunity for Tasmania.
The proposed new 1500MW Marinus Link interconnector will open up even greater two-way access to the energy market. We can take advantage of low-cost wind and solar for our own energy needs in Tasmania and export our stored energy when there's gaps in supply. All of this means big benefits flowing back to Tasmania. Tasmanians can be proud that we are doing our bit to address climate change, while also reaping the benefits of downward pressure on future power prices, greater economic returns to the state, and the jobs and investment that will help grow our economy for the future. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has supported project studies with $5million in funding as part of its Advancing Renewables Program.
We’ve produced a series of white papers (links below), jointly funded with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), that take a detailed look at Australia’s future energy market and how to plan for an uncertain future.
We examine modelling and design of the future energy market (and the challenges that presents), unlocking investment in much-needed storage and how deep storage (duration of 12+ hours) is the optimal, least-cost choice to manage future uncertainty during the country’s energy transition.
We bring together key insights to show that energy storages that can operate over many hours (12+ hours) are an optimal, least-cost choice able to manage realistic uncertainty in the power system.
We take a close look at the challenges driving future uncertainty and how modelling must adapt to create robust options that work across a range of potential futures.
Understanding how storage might realistically operate in the future is critical to understanding the potential reliability of Australia’s energy system.
Analysis from Hydro Tasmania shows significant potential for Tasmania and Victoria to work together to achieve an affordable, reliable clean energy future.
We challenge preconceptions, provide new understandings and clarify language for the transformation of the NEM.
Our analysis Tasmania demonstrates that additional Bass Strait interconnection would immediately unlock seasonable spare capacity in the Tasmanian hydropower system, and make it available to a transforming NEM.