Australia's Energy Storage Battery Construction Hits A Record High, But The Problem Of Wind And Solar Power Abandonment Remains Serious

In 2024, Australia's large-scale energy storage battery construction is rapid, with an annual construction capacity of 4.9 GW/13 GWh, breaking the historical record and leading wind power and photovoltaic projects. However, despite the rapid growth of the energy storage industry, the problem of wind and solar power abandonment is still an important issue in Australia's energy transition.

Of the approximately 3 GW of energy storage batteries currently in operation, only 1.5 GW has been officially put into the market, far less than the average 23 GW load demand of the power grid. It is expected that in the next two years, the market's available energy storage capacity is expected to increase to 8-9 GW, which will help alleviate the volatility of the electricity market, but it is still difficult to completely solve the problem.

At the same time, the power abandonment rate of Australia's renewable energy projects remains high. In 2024, the average power abandonment rate of photovoltaic power reached 13%, and that of wind power was 6%. In September, the power abandonment rate of photovoltaic power once soared to 27%. The rapid expansion of distributed photovoltaic power has also led some operators to propose further expanding the remote control rights of rooftop photovoltaic power to alleviate the pressure on the power grid.

Compared with the slow-building pumped storage projects, the cost of battery systems has dropped significantly by 33%, profitability has continued to improve, and the energy storage market has strong development momentum. It is expected that the construction of large-scale energy storage projects will further accelerate in 2025.