Answer to Renewable Power’s Top Problem Emerges in the ‘Australian Outback’

From Bloomberg Energy

The answer to the renewable energy industry’s biggest challenge is emerging in the Australian outback.

Early next year, one of the first power projects that combine solar and wind generation with battery storage is planning to start up in northern Queensland state.

The Kennedy Energy Park, just outside the sleepy town of Hughendon, will combine 43 megawatts of wind and 20 megawatts of solar with a 2-megawatt Tesla Inc. lithium-ion battery.

Hybrid projects like Kennedy aim to tackle a problem faced by climate change challengers, and grid planners, across the globe: how to firm-up intermittent renewable power so that the lights stay on when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.

A glimpse of the future is underway in far North Queensland

It could also be a precursor of what’s to come in the next decade. Plunging green technology costs are opening up markets and suppliers are seeking new avenues to combat falling margins.

Australia, India, and the U.S. already have a combined pipeline of more than 4,000 megawatts of hybrid, or co-located projects, according to BloombergNEF analysis.

Kennedy Energy Park’s location is one of the best on the planet for pairing a strong and consistent solar resource with a highly complementary wind profile, said Roger Price, chief executive officer of Windlab Ltd., the company leading the development, along with Eurus Energy Holdings.

“When you start to combine wind and solar in an intelligent, optimized way, then you can provide much greater penetration of renewables into the grid,” Price said in a phone interview, adding that the facility expected to start up in two or three months.

Price said combining wind and solar allowed the project to save on connection costs to the network, while enhancing grid utilization because the wind generally blew at night when solar wasn’t available. In addition, Kennedy has potential to supply more power to the grid than its 50 megawatt transmission line can handle, so the battery will allow that excess power to be stored.

A range of co-located projects have followed in Kennedy’s wake, with 690 megawatts worth of capacity commissioned across the country, BNEF said in a report last month. In January, a joint-venture between Lacour Energy and a unit of Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. won approval for the A$250 million ($170 million) Kondinin complex in Western Australia, which will combine battery storage with 120 megawatts of wind power and 50 megawatts of solar.

French company Neoen SA has even bigger ambitions: It’s Goyder South project in South Australia, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2021, is on a scale not yet seen for a renewables project in Australia. It includes 1,200 megawatts of wind power and 600 megawatts of solar backed by 900 megawatts of battery storage.

It’s not only Australia that is developing the concept. In the U.S., NextEra Energy Inc. is working on two projects that combine the three technologies, while Vattenfall AB is working on a “triple-scoop” project in the Netherlands believed to be the first of its kind in Europe.

India is also keen on the idea, with the government putting policies in place to encourage co-located projects in a number of states, according to BNEF.

“Whenever we are kicking off a photovoltaic or an onshore wind project in the future, we will always consider whether we should do it as co-located,” Alfred Hoffman, a vice president at Vattenfall’s wind unit, said at a BNEF summit last month in London.

There are various constraints to developing such integrated projects. In Europe, for instance, most large-scale wind and solar is procured through auctions, which aren’t currently designed for co-located projects, according to Cecilia L’Ecluse, a solar analyst at BNEF in London.

There can also be permitting issues, such as Germany’s ban on using farmland for solar, while in the U.S., developers may not be facing the same grid access challenges, so the savings incentive might not be as strong, she said.

Windlab’s Price acknowledged that combining technologies would only work in certain locations and, in a modern well-connected grid, wind and solar don’t necessarily need to be on the same site to deliver combined benefits.

The Kennedy project has seen the start of commercial operation delayed into 2020 due to hold ups in getting the necessary approval to connect to the grid.

It could be in developing countries where the concept could make the biggest difference, said Price, who’s also working on an 80 megawatt multi-technology project in Kenya. It’s also a particularly pressing problem in countries like Australia, where a number of aging coal-fired power stations are scheduled to retire over the next decade, leaving renewables to fill the gap.

“In the future, we won’t have these big fossil-fuel plants to keep the grid stable. That’s an additional task that renewables will have to take on,” said Bo Svoldgaard, senior vice president of innovation and concepts at Vestas Wind Systems A/S, which partnered Windlab on the Kennedy project and supplied the turbines. “The fossil fuel plants will disappear. Maybe not tomorrow, or in two years time, but they will disappear.”

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Australia wants to build a giant underground ‘battery’ to help power the nation – ‘Hydro Down Under’

The power down under. Image: REUTERS/Action Images

Governments around the world are looking to boost renewable energy capacity as they race to cut their reliance on fossil fuels. But one of the big questions they face is how to keep the lights on when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Australia’s answer is to build a giant underground hydropower plant beneath a national park.

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The $3.1 billion Snowy 2.0 project – so called because it’s located in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales – will use water flowing between two reservoirs to generate 10% of the nation’s energy needs at peak times and when renewables are offline.

Image: Snowy Hydro

Water will stream through 27 kilometres of tunnels from the Tantangara Dam to the Talbingo Reservoir 700 metres below, while passing through a power plant 1 kilometre beneath the surface. The turbines will be reversible so they can pump the water back uphill when demand is low, using wind energy.

Known as a pumped hydro scheme, the project is designed to work like a giant battery – storing water energy that can be released as electricity to the grid with a notice of just 90 seconds. It’s hoped the plant will provide energy storage of 175 hours, enough to power 3 million homes for a week.

“Snowy 2.0 will provide the storage and on-demand generation needed to balance the growth of wind and solar power and the retirement of Australia’s ageing fleet of thermal power stations,” says Snowy Hydro Chief Executive Paul Broad. “In short, it will keep our energy system secure and keep the lights on.”

The first power produced from Snowy 2.0 is expected to flow into the national grid in late 2024.

Image: Snowy Hydro

A sensitive issue

The project is controversial, not least because of its planned location – the Kosciuszko National Park. Named after the nation’s highest mainland peak, the 2,228 metre Mount Kosciuszko, the park is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Critics question the reliability of the project’s cost estimates and its ability to fulfil its claimed potential output. They say it is unlikely to be finished on time and ask if the money would be better spent on conventional battery storage.

Environmental groups say the project will create 9 million cubic metres of tunnelling waste, and claim that dumping it in an ecologically sensitive landscape would be “environmental vandalism”.

Snowy Hydro, the company behind the project, refutes these claims and says it will deliver on time and to budget. It says any environmental impact will be limited to just 100 hectares of the 674,000 hectare park – and the project is expected to create 5,000 new jobs.

Hydro upgrade

Snowy Hydro 2.0 builds on the original Snowy Hydro project, which marks its 70th anniversary this year. It grew out of a scheme to alleviate the effects of droughts in the continent’s interior by storing water from the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Snowy and Tumut rivers.

Work began on the first Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme in 1949. The $564 million project was completed in 1974 and includes seven power stations, 16 major dams, 145 kilometres of interconnected tunnels and 80 kilometres of aqueducts.

The government says the new project is essential to Australia’s transition to renewable energy sources. Currently, almost two-thirds of the country’s electricity is generated by coal-fired plants. Together I coal and gas account for 85% of the nation’s power generation. 

The government has set a target of increasing the contribution of renewables to 23.5% by the end of next year.

The latest Fostering Effective Energy Transition report from the World Economic Forum ranks Australia 43rd out of 115 countries in terms of the performance of its energy system and its readiness for transition to clean energy.

Australian scientists develop nanotechnology to purify water

Scientists in Australia have developed a ground-breaking new way to strip impurities from waste water, with the research set to have massive applications for a number of industries.

Scientists in Australia have developed a ground-breaking new way to strip impurities from waste water, with the research set to have massive applications for a number of industries.

By using a new type of crystalline alloy, researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) are able to extract the contaminants and pollutants that often end up in water during industrial processing.

“Mining and textile production produces huge amounts of waste water that is contaminated with heavy metals and dyes,” lead researcher Associate Professor Laichang Zhang from ECU’s School of Engineering technology said in a statement on Friday.

Although it is already possible to treat waste water with iron powder, according to Zhang, the cost is very high.

“Firstly, using iron powder leaves you with a large amount of iron sludge that must be stored and secondly it is expensive to produce and can only be used once,” he explained.

We can produce enough crystalline alloy to treat one tonne of waste water for just 15 Australian Dollars (10.8 US dollars), additionally, we can reuse the crystalline alloy up to five times while still maintaining its effectiveness.” Based on his previous work with “metal glass,” Zhang updated the nanotechnology to make it more effective.

“Whereas metallic glasses have a disordered atomic structure, the crystalline alloy we have developed has a more ordered atomic structure,” he said.

“We produced the crystalline alloy by heating metallic glass in a specific way.””This modifies the structure, allowing the electrons in the crystalline alloy to move more freely, thereby improving its ability to bind with dye molecules or heavy metals leaving behind usable water.”Zhang said he will continue to expand his research with industry partners to further improve the technology.

Update: Australia’s CSIRO – Tiny (graphene) membrane key to safe drinking water for billions of people around the World

Sydney’s iconic harbour has played a starring role in the development of new CSIRO technology that could save lives around the world.

Using their own specially designed form of graphene, ‘Graphair’, CSIRO scientists have supercharged water purification, making it simpler, more effective and quicker.

The new filtering technique is so effective, water samples from Sydney Harbour were safe to drink after passing through the filter.

The breakthrough research was published today in Nature Communications.

“Almost a third of the world’s population, some 2.1 billion people, don’t have clean and safe drinking water,” the paper’s lead author, CSIRO scientist Dr Dong Han Seo said. 

“As a result, millions — mostly children — die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene every year.

“In Graphair we’ve found a perfect filter for water purification. It can replace the complex, time consuming and multi-stage processes currently needed with a single step.”

While graphene is the world’s strongest material and can be just a single carbon atom thin, it is usually water repellent.

Using their Graphair process, CSIRO researchers were able to create a film with microscopic nano-channels that let water pass through, but stop pollutants.

As an added advantage Graphair is simpler, cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly than graphene to make.

It consists of renewable soybean oil, more commonly found in vegetable oil.

Looking for a challenge, Dr Seo and his colleagues took water samples from Sydney Harbour and ran it through a commercially available water filter, coated with Graphair.

Researchers from QUT, the University of Sydney, UTS, and Victoria University then tested and analysed its water purification qualities.

The breakthrough potentially solves one of the great problems with current water filtering methods: fouling.

Over time chemical and oil based pollutants coat and impede water filters, meaning contaminants have to be removed before filtering can begin. Tests showed Graphair continued to work even when coated with pollutants.

Without Graphair, the membrane’s filtration rate halved in 72 hours.

When the Graphair was added, the membrane filtered even more contaminants (99 per cent removal) faster.

“This technology can create clean drinking water, regardless of how dirty it is, in a single step,” Dr Seo said.

“All that’s needed is heat, our graphene, a membrane filter and a small water pump. We’re hoping to commence field trials in a developing world community next year.”

CSIRO is looking for industry partners to scale up the technology so it can be used to filter a home or even town’s water supply.

It’s also investigating other applications such as the treatment of seawater and industrial effluents.

 

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Story Source:

Materials provided by CSIRO Australia. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Dong Han Seo, Shafique Pineda, Yun Chul Woo, Ming Xie, Adrian T. Murdock, Elisa Y. M. Ang, Yalong Jiao, Myoung Jun Park, Sung Il Lim, Malcolm Lawn, Fabricio Frizera Borghi, Zhao Jun Han, Stephen Gray, Graeme Millar, Aijun Du, Ho Kyong Shon, Teng Yong Ng, Kostya Ostrikov. Anti-fouling graphene-based membranes for effective water desalination. Nature Communications, 2018; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-02871-3

No More Washing: Nano- Enabled Textiles Clean Themselves with Light

A spot of sunshine is all it could take to get your washing done, thanks to pioneering nano research into self-cleaning textiles.

Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a cheap and efficient new way to grow special nanostructures—which can degrade organic matter when exposed to light—directly onto textiles.

The work paves the way towards nano-enhanced textiles that can spontaneously clean themselves of stains and grime simply by being put under a light bulb or worn out in the sun.

Dr Rajesh Ramanathan said the process developed by the team had a variety of applications for catalysis-based industries such as agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and natural products, and could be easily scaled up to industrial levels.

“The advantage of textiles is they already have a 3D structure so they are great at absorbing light, which in turn speeds up the process of degrading organic matter,” he said.

“There’s more work to do to before we can start throwing out our washing machines, but this advance lays a strong foundation for the future development of fully self-cleaning textiles.”

The researchers from the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and NanoBiotechnology Research Lab at RMIT worked with copper and silver-based nanostructures, which are known for their ability to absorb visible light.

The red color indicates the presence of silver nanoparticles — the total coverage on the image shows the nanostructures grown by the RMIT team are present throughout the textile. Image magnified 200 times. Credit: RMIT University

When the nanostructures are exposed to light, they receive an energy boost that creates “hot electrons“. These “hot electrons” release a burst of energy that enables the nanostructures to degrade organic matter.

The challenge for researchers has been to bring the concept out of the lab by working out how to build these nanostructures on an industrial scale and permanently attach them to textiles.

The RMIT team’s novel approach was to grow the nanostructures directly onto the textiles by dipping them into a few solutions, resulting in the development of stable nanostructures within 30 minutes.

Close-up of the nanostructures grown on cotton textiles by RMIT University researchers. Image magnified 150,000 times. Credit: RMIT University

When exposed to light, it took less than six minutes for some of the nano-enhanced textiles to spontaneously clean themselves.

“Our next step will be to test our nano-enhanced textiles with organic compounds that could be more relevant to consumers, to see how quickly they can handle common stains like tomato sauce or wine,” Ramanathan said.

The research is published on March 23, 2016 in the high-impact journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

Explore further: Silver in the washing machine: Nanocoatings release almost no nanoparticles

More information: Samuel R. Anderson et al. Robust Nanostructured Silver and Copper Fabrics with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Property for Effective Visible Light Induced Reductive Catalysis, Advanced Materials Interfaces (2016). DOI: 10.1002/admi.201500632

Provided by: RMIT University

 

 

Nanocones from “Down Under” ~ Boost Solar Cell Efficiency by 15 percent

A team of scientists at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia has announced the development of a nanostructure material made of what they are calling nanocones—it is a type of nanomaterial that can be added to boost the efficiency of photovoltaics by increasing their light absorbing abilities. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes the new material, how it works, and their hopes for its use in a wide variety of photovoltaic applications.

The new cone structured material’s positive attributes come about due to an ultrahigh refractive index—each cone is made of a type of material that acts inside as an insulator and outside as a conductor—under a microscope the material looks like a mass of bullets stood up on end atop a flat base. It, like other topological insulators, exploits oscillations that occur as a result of changes in the concentration of electrons that come about when the material is struck by photons. Each cone has a metal shell coating and a core that is based on a dielectric—a material made with them would be able to provide superior light absorption properties, making it ideal for not just solar cells, but a wide variety of photovoltaic applications ranging from optical fibers to waveguides and even lenses. The researchers suggest that if such a material were to be used as part of a traditional thin-film solar cell, it could increase light absorption by up to 15 percent in both the visible and ultraviolet range.

In interviews with the press, the researchers pointed out that theirs is the first time that such a nanocone structure has been created and perhaps just as importantly, noted that creating them would not require any new fabrication techniques. Also, they suggested that because of the better light absorption properties of the new material, “both the short circuit current and photoelectric conversion efficiency could be enhanced.”

The researchers also note that unlike other nanostructures the oscillations generated by the nanocones are polarization insensitive, which means they do not have to be directionally perpendicular to nanoslits making them more useful in a wider array of applications because they can be directly integrated into current hardware. They add that they next plan to shift their efforts towards focusing on plasmonics that occur in other sorts of structures with different types of shapes.

Explore further: Nanocones could be key to making inexpensive solar cells

More information: Z. Yue et al. Intrinsically core-shell plasmonic dielectric nanostructures with ultrahigh refractive index, Science Advances (2016). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501536

Abstract
Topological insulators are a new class of quantum materials with metallic (edge) surface states and insulating bulk states. They demonstrate a variety of novel electronic and optical properties, which make them highly promising electronic, spintronic, and optoelectronic materials. We report on a novel conic plasmonic nanostructure that is made of bulk-insulating topological insulators and has an intrinsic core-shell formation. The insulating (dielectric) core of the nanocone displays an ultrahigh refractive index of up to 5.5 in the near-infrared frequency range. On the metallic shell, plasmonic response and strong backward light scattering were observed in the visible frequency range. Through integrating the nanocone arrays into a-Si thin film solar cells, up to 15% enhancement of light absorption was predicted in the ultraviolet and visible ranges. With these unique features, the intrinsically core-shell plasmonic nanostructure paves a new way for designing low-loss and high-performance visible to infrared optical devices.

Journal reference: Science Advances

 

Wastewater technology to assist nuclear clean-up

The Virtual Curtain technology can turn toxic wastewater into near rainwater quality. Image: The nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine. Credit: Timm Seuss

West Australian researchers have developed an advanced water decontamination process that turns toxic wastewater into near rainwater quality and which they believe could help Japan in its extensive clean-up of nuclear contaminated waters.

CSIRO scientist Grant Douglas visited the country in September and with assistance from Austrade has submitted a proposal to use CSIRO’s Virtual Curtain technology for widespread remediation work in Japan, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He says water tanks, flooded buildings and basements in Fukushima remain highly contaminated after the meltdown of the power plant nuclear reactors in 2011.

“They need to clean those up and that’s proving difficult because they have such a wide range of contaminants,” Dr Douglas says.

“They can’t generally employ one technique—they need multiple ones, whereas our technology has the advantage that it can clean up a lot of contaminants in one step.”

Dr Douglas says the first full scale application of the technology in Australia began in late September at a toxic mine site in Queensland.

“This is a severe environmental liability at the moment; what we’ll be doing is treating water that’s highly acidic and full of all sorts of toxic metals metalloids, arsenic and other things,” he says.

“The water we produce from that is virtually drinking-quality except for the salt level.

“That is then going through a reverse osmosis plant to remove the salt and that effluent – which will be released into a river – is actually going to be better quality water than is now in the river. It’ll be like rainwater.”

The Virtual Curtain technology is patented by CSIRO and made commercial through the company Virtual Curtain Limited.

It uses hydrotalcites; layered minerals consisting of aluminium and magnesium-rich-layers, separated by interlayers of anions (negatively charged molecules like sulphate).

During the process the aluminium and magnesium can be replaced by a range of other metals like copper and lead as the hydotalcites form. The metals and anions are then trapped and easily removed from wastewater as a solid.

Dr Douglas says lime has been used traditionally to decontaminate wastewater but among its drawbacks it requires a number of complex steps and produces enormous amounts of sludge.

“The technique I have produces just 10 per cent or less of the sludge that lime does which is then far more concentrated as a result, and has potential to turn what was wastewater back into an ore; they can re-mine it.”

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-wastewater-technology-nuclear-clean-up.html#jCp

Australia Snaps Up Locally Made Nanotechnology Instrument

21 October 2013

Australia Snaps Up Locally Made Nanotechnology Instrument

Crown Research Institute GNS Science has beat off competition from Europe and the United States to supply a nanotechnology fabrication machine to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney.

Known as an ion implanter, it is being shipped to Sydney this week in a container.

When installed at ANSTO’s facility at Lucas Heights on the outskirts of Sydney, it will be used to make advanced materials for use in hi-tech industries. ANSTO is the headquarters for Australia’s nuclear science expertise.

The instrument will implant charged atoms into the surface of materials by accelerating them at various energy levels. This gives the implanted material a range of desired properties such as super-hardness, ultra-smoothness, improved electrical conductivity, and greater corrosion resistance.

Potential applications for these ‘new’ materials include industries such as medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, and transport.

Leader of GNS Science’s Ion Beam Technology Group, Andreas Markwitz, said this was the largest single project his group had undertaken in its 15-year history.

The instrument, measuring 3m by 2m when assembled, was designed and built at GNS Science in Lower Hutt. The only outside component was a 2.4 tonne electro-magnet built by Buckley Systems Ltd in Auckland.

“There are probably fewer than 10 companies in the world that could build an ion implanter such as this from scratch,” Dr Markwitz said.

“This will open the door to other lucrative offshore work and we are already looking at the possibility of supplying a similar instrument to India.”

The ANSTO deal was particularly attractive because it allowed GNS Science to book time on the implanter in Sydney to further its research and development in nanotechnology.

“We already operate three in-house-built implanters in our Lower Hutt facility, and this new one offers a few extra capabilities. It’s the best implanter we have ever built.”

GNS Science had learnt a lot during the project which would help it to offer better science and consultancy services in nanotechnology in the future.

Dr Markwitz believed there were several reasons GNS Science won the contract ahead of US and European companies.

“We have developed a good relationship with ANSTO over many years and they are aware of our expertise in building and operating ion implanters.

“Our package was pretty competitive and it had everything ANSTO was looking for – high performance, low maintenance, reliability, ease of use, and a competitive price.”

The strength of the GNS Science brand in Australia had also helped, Dr Markwitz said.

“It’s a good feeling when Australia looks to us to provide part of its nuclear science infrastructure.”

RMIT University, Australia:The Formation of Nanofins from Magnetic Nanoparticles: Video

Published on Oct  2, 2013

Heat has become one of the most critical issues in computer and semiconductor design: The ever increasing number of transistors in computer chips requires more efficient cooling approaches for the hot spots which are generated as a result of the operation of the transistors. Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have demonstrated a microfluidic technique of using thermally conductive and magnetic chromium oxide nanoparticles that can form low-dimensional fins in the vicinity of hot spots.

Read more at http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spo…

Watch the Video Here:

New graphene-based super-capacitors last as long as lead-acid batteries

Researcher from Australia‘s Monash University developed new graphene-based supercapacitors that feature high energy density – in fact about 12 times higher than commercially available capacitors. These supercapacitors last as long as a conventional battery (lead-acid).

 

 

 

The researchers used an adaptive graphene gel film, developed at Monash in 2012. They used liquid electrolytes to control the spacing between graphene sheets on the sub-nanometre scale. Those electrolytes played a dual role: maintaining the minute space between the graphene sheets and conducting electricity. In this new electrode design, the density is maximized without compromising porosity.

The researchers say that the production process is simple and can be scaled-up cost-effectively.

Source: Monash University