Over the period 2016-2023 the New Zealand Government investigated options to ensure sufficient energy storage for electricity generation in the event of future low rainfall resulting in inadequate hydro lake storage. (The NZ battery project). The bioenergy options investigated included energy storag Contact online >>
Over the period 2016-2023 the New Zealand Government investigated options to ensure sufficient energy storage for electricity generation in the event of future low rainfall resulting in inadequate hydro lake storage. (The NZ battery project). The bioenergy options investigated included energy storage from gaseous, liquid and solid biofuels.
New Zealand''s ''dry year problem'' is when our existing hydro-power catchments don''t receive enough rainfall or snowmelt and the level of the storage lakes runs low. When this occurs some form of back-up is needed, and this is currently provided by fossil fuel generation.
Inovo have been engaged since 2020 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to develop and manage the master-programme for the New Zealand Battery project through to completion of the detailed business case. This role has incorporated the coordination of business case workstreams and leveraged Inovo strategic planning capabilities to integrate legislative process and project experience.
New Zealand Battery is a climate change initiative investigating the ability of pumped hydro, and alternative technologies, to address New Zealand''s dry year electricity problem – when our existing hydro-power catchments don''t receive enough rainfall or snowmelt and the level of the storage lakes runs low. Back up for these times is currently provided by fossil fuel generation. Based on 89 years of hydro inflow records, the NZ Battery Project estimates there can be an energy deficit of between 3 and 5 TWh in the worst dry years. This is about 10% of our current annual energy needs. The name, 'NZ Battery', refers to the way the intended solution may provide stored energy for New Zealand''s electricity system, similar to the way a battery stores energy until it''s needed.
In addition to the Strategic Planning role, Inovo has also provided supportive project control services to MBIE. These services included risk management, and the development of dashboard reporting functions to support the internal and external governance reporting. Dashboard reporting for the project brings together overarching and workstream specific information on schedule, risk, financial forecasting analysis, schedule analysis, summarised decision milestones, and planned value vs actual cost reporting. The dashboard reporting for the NZ Battery Project simplifies and summarises the information required by a dynamic governance group, to make complex project decisions more efficiently.
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A consortium of specialist firms has been awarded a major contract to advance the New Zealand Battery Project''s feasibility investigation into a pumped hydro storage scheme at Lake Onslow, the Minister of Energy and Resources Megan Woods has announced.
"This contract represents a major milestone as it begins the targeted engineering, environmental planning and geotechnical feasibility investigation for Lake Onslow," says Megan Woods.
The consortium, Te Rōpū Matatau, will be led by engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald New Zealand, with engineering consultancy firm GHD, and environmental planning and design consultancy Boffa Miskell.
"The first part of this investigation will look at the design and environmental effects as well as determining the geotechnical fieldwork programme.
"The second part will refine the design, informed by fieldwork investigations of key geotechnical aspects, including the regional geology, rock properties, fault lines and the availability of rock and earth fill at location for potential dam construction. The environmental planning work will look at consenting options and what further work may be needed to assess the environmental effects.
"The fieldwork investigations are likely to include drilling shallow and deep boreholes to better understand the underlying geology, the best route for a tunnel and the best location for a potential underground powerhouse. "This work, along with the environmental and cultural investigations already underway, will give a better picture of the feasibility and costs of the Lake Onslow storage scheme.
"I want to thank mana whenua and the local community, particularly the landowners around Lake Onslow for their patience as we look to conduct investigations and acknowledge the challenging and unique situation they are in. While this project has the potential to benefit all of New Zealand, the project team will continue working with and supporting these groups," Megan Woods said.
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The NZ Battery Project is investigating solutions to the ''dry year problem'' when hydro catchments are low and fossil fuels are burnt to generate electricity to cover the shortfall. A number of options are being investigated and will be compared to a pumped hydro storage scheme option at Central Otago''s Lake Onslow. The contract for this Lake Onslow feasibility study is worth approximately $11.5m.
Pumped hydro technology involves transferring water between two reservoirs at different heights. Water flows from one reservoir to the other through tunnels, passing through a power station. When electricity demand is low or when surplus power is available, electricity is used to pump water from the lower reservoir to fill the upper reservoir. When water stored in the upper reservoir is released, it flows down the tunnels to drive turbines that generate hydro-electricity. Water in the upper reservoir effectively acts as a ''battery'', as it can be released to generate electricity when it''s needed during times of high demand or during dry years.
Shalini came to Victoria University five years ago as an international student from India to complete her PhD in Chemistry. Little could she have known then that her research would lead her to develop an effective alternative to the ubiquitous lithium-ion battery.
She admits that she had never heard of aluminium-ion before being introduced to it by her supervisor Professor Thomas Nann. But she quickly learned of its benefits and knows it can one day become a viable replacement for lithium-ion, which powers most of our electronics.
Lithium-ion batteries present environmental, safety, and social issues. They aren''t long-lasting or reusable, they''re flammable, and the mining of the cobalt they contain is known to involve child labour. Resources are limited so they are going to get more expensive.
Aluminium, on the other hand, is the most abundant metal in the earth''s crust, can easily be recycled, is non-flammable in nature, and is cheaper to source. "So it was ticking all the boxes," says Shalini.
The challenge was to find a material which could help boost its storage capacity, and this was at the heart of Shalini''s research.
Research success leads to tech start-up
Fast-forward from her student days, and Shalini is now co-founder and CEO of start-up TasmanIon, which plans to commercialise her revolutionary battery technology.
"I tested 70-80 materials during my PhD and TasmanIon is about one of those materials. I remember the excitement in the lab the day that we that we got huge storage out of my battery," she says. "There was that eureka moment. But, of course, as a PhD student I had to analyse the results carefully. That took a very long time, and the research still continues."
The material which proved successful is now awaiting a patent which should be secured in the coming months.
"Once we realized the significance of this technology, TasmanIon was born. Three years ago, I was a very happy PhD student, just worried about my thesis and publications, and then I got that entrepreneurial streak."
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