Australian gov't to increase investment in energy storage by 500 percent

SYDNEY, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Victorian government has announced that it will increase its investment in large-scale energy storage by 500 percent.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Energy and Environment Lily D'Ambrosio on Tuesday announced the government would invest a further 15 million U.S. dollars in energy storage on top of the 3.7 million dollars already invested.

The announcement, made at Tesla's Australian headquarters in Melbourne, came after the energy storage company unveiled its Powerwall 2 storage device in Melbourne on Thursday.

The funding will be made available to companies focused on developing batteries, pumped hydro or solar thermal technologies with the aim of boosting energy storage capacity in Victoria to 100 megawatts by the end of 2018.

If achieved, the energy storage capacity would be used to power Victorian towns of up to 200,000 people for up to four hours during peak times and avoid power outages.

"Victoria will remain a net exporter of energy, but investments like this will ensure our state stays as one of the most reliable energy producers in the world," Daniel Andrews told reporters.

"Our focus is on keeping Victoria's diverse energy system as affordable, resilient and secure as possible, particularly during peak periods and extreme weather events."

The announcement came as Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, made Australian headlines for offering to resolve the power crisis in South Australia (SA) using similar technology in 100 days.

Musk had a conversation with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull regarding the SA proposal, a conversation Musk described as "very exciting."

D'Ambrosio used the opportunity to call on Turnbull to match Victoria's investment given that the state has received just four percent of national renewable energy funding despite being home to nearly a quarter of the nation's population.

"This investment is about using all the technology available to us to ensure the security and reliability of our energy supply, while creating jobs," D'Ambrosio said.

"Given Malcolm Turnbull's new found interest in energy storage initiatives and the fact that Victoria has so far received only 4 percent of Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) total national funding, we call on Turnbull to match our state's investment in energy storage."