...AND CHEAPER...:

In the US, even with cheap gas, most major utilities are deciding that battery storage is a better bet to meet peak demand problems that gas generators. In Australia, many utilities are leaning the same way, although not the federal government and its wholly owned Snowy Hydro.

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If the gas plant proposed for Liddell is a peaking plant - and no one in Australia is seriously considering a "baseload" replacement due to the cost of gas - then it's likely to be rarely used. And when it is used, it will be very expensive.

That's where battery storage comes in as a battery option. AGL has recognised this and hailed the "dawn of the battery era", and is rapidly recalibrating its plans as it recognises the increasingly compelling case for big batteries.

This is driven not only by the anticipated fall in the cost of battery storage (Tesla pointed to a more than 50 per cent reduction over the next three years at its long awaited Battery Day), but also the development of markets that enable battery storage to be properly rewarded for the multitude of services that it can deliver.

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