Energy storage needs for an Australian national electricity market grid without combustion fuels

Abstract

The opportunity to achieve a wind and solar energy only Australian national electricity market (NEM) grid is linked to the development of massive energy storage systems. Photovoltaic solar energy is unavailable nighttime and reduced when it is cloudy or raining. Wind energy also drops some days to zero, with similarly large fluctuations between maximum and minimum energy supplies. This fundamental aspect is being ignored when only trying to increase the nominal capacity of wind energy and solar photovoltaic facilities. The need for a massive energy storage system to properly use this increased capacity is highlighted by the high-frequency energy generation data by source that we show for the NEM that is covering most of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, and Queensland, with the only exception of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. This analysis highlights the present energy storage needs for a NEM wind and solar only. The nominal capacity of wind and solar, and the energy storage, that is supposed to increase up to unbelievably high values, to only cover the electricity production, is due to increase even more, to cover the TPES demand, and not only the electricity demand, of a country without combustion fuels.