SYDNEY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Australian state of Queensland broke ground on Thursday for what would be the nation's first large-scale iron flow battery hub, which is poised to underpin the state's transition to renewables.
At its peak, the 70 million Australian dollars (about 47.72 million U.S. dollars) project is expected to provide six gigawatts of energy storage over its lifetime, the equivalent of 20 percent of Australia's energy needs.
"Energy storage is key to unlocking Queensland's renewable energy revolution as we power towards our target of having 50 percent renewables by 2030," said Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles.
As of June 1, 21.2 percent of the state's energy use came from renewable sources. The largest sources are rooftop solar panels, solar farms, and to a lesser extent hydro and wind projects.
Nationally, 24 percent of Australia's domestic energy generation came from renewable sources.
Director of Energy Storage Industries -- Asia Pacific (ESI), the company embarking on the state-endorsed project, Stuart Perry said the center is expected to be operational by 2024.
"Longer-term, we have significant export ambitions - to be a provider of large-scale and small, modular distributed energy storage solutions to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia," said Perry.
Iron flow batteries store energy in tanks of liquid electrolytes which release their energy when pumped through the system. They are touted as a cost-effective, sustainable technology as they have the longest lifespan of any batteries -- lasting up to 25 years and producing non-toxic bi-products.
The Queensland government has also invested 15 million Australian dollars (about 10.23 million U.S. dollars) into its National Battery Testing Center (NBTC) which they hope to use to attract future private investment and bring more jobs to the state.
"The development of a responsible battery industry is paramount to Australia's carbon-reduction efforts which is why we are working on this comprehensive strategy to capitalize on Queensland's battery minerals, mining expertise and manufacturing strengths," added Miles. ■