This article was originally published on Watt Clarity.
As part of the organisation’s energy leadership ambitions, The University of Queensland installed the state’s largest behind-the-meter battery in late 2019.
The 1.1MW / 2.15MWh Tesla Powerpack system accompanied UQ’s move to be the first university in Australia to participate directly in the wholesale electricity spot market. At an all-in cost of $2.05 million ($953/kWh), the project was funded through the sale of renewable energy certificates created by UQ’s existing 6.3MW behind-the-meter solar PV portfolio.
As a teaching and research driven organisation, UQ is keen to share the learnings and outcomes of this project (which was primarily developed for commercial purposes) in an open and transparent manner, including an assessment of actual performance against business case assumptions. The full report on the battery’s business case and Q1 performance is due to be launched in mid-May and will cover these issues in depth. This article is an extract of the report and explores the battery’s performance during Q1 2020 regarding the ‘virtual cap contract’ service that it can provide.
A free webinar to present the report and hold a Q&A session will be held at 1pm Friday 22 May. Register here.
