Australia to install 1.2 GWh of energy storage in 2020 - WoodMac

Energy storage capacity in Australia is expected to increase by 1.2 GWh this year, bringing the country's total to 2.7 GWh, new study from consultancy group Wood Mackenzie showed on Wednesday.

The rise forecast for this year is more than two times the 499 MWh in capacity added in 2019.

Front-of-the-meter (FTM) capacity is set to increase by 672 MWh this year, overtaking the back-of-the-meter capacity, which is expected to add 581 MWh, for the first time. This will happen thanks to federal and state funding programmes as well as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

In spite of the strong growth forecast for 2020, Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Le Xu warned that the 4.6 GWh of announced projects in the pipeline could be delayed or cancelled over the next five years because of the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown.

The FTM Market is expected to contract in 2022 because of difficulties obtaining funding, but the total capacity is still likely to reach 4.2 GWh by 2025, according to the report, helped by falling battery costs.

“In general, we can expect renewables-plus-storage costs to be about 20%-29% lower in 2025 compared to today,” Xu noted.

Cumulative energy storage investment in Australia is expected to reach USD 6 billion (EUR 5.3bn) by 2025, translating to 12.9 GWh of cumulative deployments.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.891)

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