Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemDid utility-scale energy storage sites reduce or increase carbon emissions in Australia’s National Electricity Market in 2019?( 2020)This report investigates the impact of five utility-scale lithium-ion battery and three pumped hydro sites on the net carbon emissions of the National Electricity Market (NEM) grid during 2019. Each site, through arbitrage actions intended to maximise revenues, time shifted energy stored during low-price and high-emissions periods of the day to generation during high-price and lower-emissions time periods. Throughout the 2019 calendar year, the combined impact deriving from the activity of these sites was found to be an increase of 254,227 tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent (tCO2e), a net increase of 0.17% for the NEM. Nearly 90% of the emissions were associated with the three pumped hydro sites. New South Wales experienced the highest net emissions increase. The two Victorian-based lithium-ion batteries contributed the highest CO2e per Megawatt hour of generation. Seasonally, it was found that emissions were greatest in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia during the spring months. In New South Wales, incremental emissions during the summer months were from two to six times greater than during the other seasons. Policy recommendations aimed at ensuring utility-scale storage does not increase total emissions in the NEM are discussed. These included introducing a carbon price, provision of subsidies, new markets and incentives for storage development, and government funding for research, design and development (RD&D) to improve efficiency and lifespan of storage.