Monash University - redT9 Oct 2017 21:49
Victoria�s Monash University has begun work on an innovative solar and battery storage-based renewable energy microgrid � a major step for the leading Australian university on its path to becoming 100 per cent renewable electricity powered, and carbon neutral, by 2030.
The overarching goal of Monash�s $135 million Net Zero project � which has its beginnings back in 2005 � is to completely eliminate the university�s dependence on fossil fuels, while also blazing a trail for innovative renewable energy solutions at a commercial scale.
By the end of 2020, the university will complete its biggest solar roll out. By then, it will be generating 7GWh of energy, the equivalent of powering 1000 homes in Victoria for a year.
�We have conducted an Expressions of Interest, and worked out how we think we can contract that,� he told One Step Off The Grid on Monday.
�In the first instance we�re looking to source 55GWh (a year),� he said. �In time, we�re looking to take that up to 100GWh.�
Dr Brimblecombe said the tender has had strong responses from both solar and wind energy generators, and has targeted Victorian-based renewables, to support the Victorian government target of 40 per cent renewables by 2030.
For its part, the Labor state government has provided Monash $100,000 in seed funding to prove up the microgrid concept, and has put another $15.8 million �on the table� for future microgrid projects across the state.
By the end of 2018, the Monash team hope to have taken its total installed rooftop solar to 4MW, and to have added a 1MWh battery.
The battery � a vanadium flow/lithium hybrid energy storage system from UK-based outfit and Monash alumnus redT energy � is expected to be installed by mid-2018, at the University�s new, cutting edge Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building.
Full article here, goes to show how important and high profile this project is: -
https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/monash-uni-begins-solar-battery-storage-microgrid-road-100-renewables/