Recently, two leading energy storage companies in China and Australia officially announced their strategic cooperation, and the 250MW/1000MWh grid type energy storage benchmark project jointly built by the two sides has successfully landed in Australia. This major project with a total investment of over 1.5 billion Australian dollars is not only a deep collaboration between China and Australia in the field of new energy, but also uses globally leading grid construction technology to solve the industry pain points of high proportion of new energy grid connection and insufficient grid stability in Australia, providing a "China Australia solution" for the upgrading and transformation of the world's most difficult power grid.

As one of the countries with the fastest growth rate of new energy installed capacity in the world, Australia's proportion of renewable energy such as wind power and photovoltaics has continued to rise in recent years. However, problems such as lagging grid infrastructure upgrades and a single power structure have become increasingly prominent. Its vast territory leads to a large span of the power grid, high line losses, and frequent voltage fluctuations and frequency instability under extreme weather conditions, making it known as the "most difficult to control power grid in the world" in the industry. Previously, Australia had experienced multiple regional power outages due to fluctuations in new energy output, and the contradiction between a high proportion of new energy grid integration and grid security and stability became the core bottleneck restricting its energy transformation.

The grid based energy storage technology jointly launched by China and Australia is the key to solving this dilemma. Unlike traditional energy storage that can only achieve simple functions of "charging discharging", grid based energy storage has the characteristics of a virtual synchronous machine, which can simulate the inertial response, primary frequency regulation, secondary frequency regulation and other core functions of traditional thermal power and hydropower, equivalent to installing an "intelligent stabilizer" for the power grid. This project adopts a liquid cooled energy storage system independently developed by Chinese enterprises and Australia's leading power grid dispatch technology. It smooths out fluctuations in new energy output with millisecond level response speed, quickly compensates for grid frequency and voltage deviations, and has black start capability. It can quickly restore power supply in case of grid faults, greatly improving the power grid's ability to resist disturbances.This is not just a simple device output, but a deep integration of technical standards and engineering experience, "said the Chinese project leader. The 250MW/1000MWh energy storage power station will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase of 125MW/500MWh expected to be connected to the grid and put into operation within the year. The power station is located in South Australia, which is rich in new energy resources, and is surrounded by a large number of wind and photovoltaic power stations. After being put into operation, it can achieve on-site consumption and stable output of new energy generation. It is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 300000 tons per year and increase the new energy acceptance capacity of the regional power grid by more than 40%.

The Chief Technology Officer of the Australian partner stated that China's technological advantages in energy storage cells, system integration, and other fields complement Australia's practical experience in grid dispatching and new energy application scenarios perfectly. The implementation of grid based energy storage technology can not only solve the current stability problem of the power grid, but also provide support for Australia's new energy installation plan for the next 10 years, promoting its early achievement of the national goal of "50% renewable energy by 2030".

It is worth noting that the successful implementation of this project provides a replicable example for global power grid upgrades. Currently, many countries around the world are facing the challenge of integrating new energy into the grid. Grid based energy storage technology has become a consensus in the industry, but large-scale commercial applications still face challenges such as technological adaptation and cost control. Through joint research and development and collaborative construction, China and Australia have not only optimized the compatibility of network construction algorithms and equipment, but also reduced project costs through large-scale procurement, significantly lowering the threshold for technology implementation.

It is understood that both parties also plan to use this project as a starting point to expand more cooperation in other states of Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe and other regions, and promote the global application of grid based energy storage technology. Industry insiders analyze that this collaboration between China and Australia is not only a win-win cooperation at the enterprise level, but also marks the upgrade of China's energy storage technology from "product going global" to "technology going global" and "standard going global", injecting new impetus into the global energy transformation. With the commissioning of benchmark projects, grid based energy storage is expected to become the core technological path to solve global power grid problems and promote the efficient utilization of renewable energy on a global scale.Editor/Bian Wenjun