Friday 5 August 2022

Australia’s Monash Uni granted $495k to explore energy storage market design

Monash University in Australia has been granted AUD$495,000 (£408,574) in funding to explore alternative market designs that could better support energy storage technologies.

The Grid Innovation Hub at the university's Monash Energy Institute will conduct a study exploring the integration of storage in energy markets, with the aim of designing efficient incentives for energy storage investors and operators

That includes assessing how day-ahead markets combined with balancing markets, similar to parts of the US and European markets, could be more suitable for a market transitioning towards more bulk storage.

In addition, the study will investigate market structures for new system services such as inertia as well as the risk of market manipulation by owners of storage assets.

According to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which announced the funding, market rules for storage technologies currently don't help promote efficient allocation of energy storage resources.

The study intends to inform policymakers and market participants rather than formulating policy recommendations.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “Further investment in storage solutions such as pumped hydro, large and small-scale batteries is vital to continue Australia’s uptake of variable renewable energy into the grid.

“As traditional generation retires, we need storage to play a bigger role in firming up and balancing our electricity system.”

“The team at Monash University Energy Institute’s Grid Innovation Hub has already achieved important insights in previous studies and we see the Grid Storage Market study as just as important in highlighting the potential market changes required to incentivise industry to further invest in renewable energy storage.”