The Tesla big battery in South Australia has lifted its revenues by 20 per cent in the first three months of 2019, off the back of stronger frequency control and arbitrage markets, inspiring its owners – renewable energy developers Neoen – to investigate further storage opportunities.
The officially named Hornsdale Power Reserve – which has a fixed contract with the South Australia government to provide emergency grid services – lifted its revenues by 20 per cent in the first three months of 2019 to $A6.8 million, according to data from the Australian Energy Market Operator. This follows total revenues of $29 million in 2018, and profits of $22 million, a healthy operating margin of around 75 per cent – most of which comes from from the frequency control market and by buying and selling electricity (arbitrage) on the spot market.”In view of HPR’s operating and financial performance, the group is actively continuing with its efforts to develop new capacity in the markets in which it operates,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday (France time).
Neoen is currently building a 20MW/34MWh battery – again using Tesla technology – at the Bulgana renewable energy hub in Victoria, primarily to support a neighbouring wind farm and deliver 100 per cent renewable energy to what will be the country’s largest vegetable greenhouse, operated by Nectar Farms.
“We are still quite bullish for Australia,” Neoen chairman Xavier Barbara told investors in a recent call. “That is true for wind, it is true for solar, and it is especially true for storage …. we are well positioned. We will have more good years in Australia in storage.”
