Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) reports that its 50%-owned subsidiary has completed the first sales and installations of its residential energy-storage systems in the Western Australian capital of Perth.
Soluna Australia Pty Ltd is an incorporated joint venture – 50% Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT) and 50% DLG Energy (Shanghai) Co., Ltd – that was established to supply battery energy-storage solutions for the Antipodes (initially Australia only).
Lithium Australia Managing Director, Adrian Griffin, said consumer interest in energy-storage products has remained strong, despite the uncertainty surrounding current events. Soluna Australia, which has established a national network of ‘preferred partner’ installers, recently welcomed its first sales orders, which followed hard on the heels of its initial product shipment, received in early July.
Mr Griffin said that not only does residential battery storage offer the peace of mind of blackout protection but it will also play an increasingly important role in ensuring grid stability.
“Soluna Australia provides the most advanced residential energy storage available in the country. It can provide single phase and 3 phase systems with complete blackout protection, something lacking in many competing products,” Mr Griffin said.
“But there is more to this than reducing cost, reducing environmental footprints and not having to worry about your next power bill. Lithium Australia can assure you, the client, that at end of life, your Soluna energy storage system can be recycled.
“This sustainability initiative is provided through our subsidiary, Envirostream Australia – the only mixed battery recycler in Australasia.”
A recent Distributed Energy Resource Roadmap released by the West Australian state government confirmed that, due to the popularity of rooftop solar photovoltaic (‘PV’) systems, minimum demand for power from the grid tends to occur in the middle of the day, and on a regular basis, upturning the historical view of what is ‘normal’ in terms of grid demand.
This situation creates issues in terms of power system security (that is, the system’s capacity to continue operating within defined technical limits even if a major element of it, like a large generator or major customer, disconnects from the system). Such issues are already manifesting at times of low load and high solar generation (on weekends in the spring and autumn, for instance).
Over time, with ever greater penetration of rooftop solar PV, such issues will become increasingly prevalent, with incidences of very low load more frequent and for longer periods.
Nationwide, grid operators – aka distribution network service providers (DNSPs) – are struggling to cope with the impact on their grids of energy generated and exported by solar PV.
To ameliorate this, DNSPs and energy retailers will introduce tariffs designed specifically to decrease the amount of solar PV exported. These new tariffs are a strong incentive to consumers who produce solar energy to store that energy in either their own or DNSP-owned battery energy-storage systems.
