Fire at ‘Victoria Big Battery’ as food for thought in relation to battery chemistry

One further update from Twitter-land  was this comment from Redflow’s System Integration Architect, Simon Hackett, in response to an invitation from someone I don’t know to (some might say) leverage the misfortune of Tesla and Neoen in this event to advance their own solution:

2021-08-02-at-20-16-tweet-SimonHackett

In my view, that’s a useful note of caution and balance (from Simon) to those who might be too willing to jump in and capitalise on others misfortune.  Too often in this broader energy transition we see the tendency, from many different stakeholders, to do either, or both:

1)  Accuse (‘the other guy is to blame for’ … [SOME BAD THING HAPPENED]); or

2)  Claim credit (‘my favoured technology/solution is the reason why they saved the day’ …  like the lights staying on);

… or not forgetting that old chestnut…

3)  Socialising cost whilst privatising profit.

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Readers of this article might like to review some of the comments underneath my earlier articles about this Headline Event (particularly this one) … and also attached to other updates via LinkedIn and Twitter about this event.


About the Author

Paul McArdle
Paul was one of the founders of Global-Roam in February 2000. He is currently the CEO of the company and the principal author of WattClarity. Writing for WattClarity has become a natural extension of his work in understanding the electricity market, enabling him to lead the team in developing better software for clients. Before co-founding the company, Paul worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the Queensland Electricity Commission in the early 1990s. He also gained international experience in Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK, and Argentina as part of his ES Cornwall Memorial Scholarship.

1 Comment on "Fire at ‘Victoria Big Battery’ as food for thought in relation to battery chemistry"

  1. There is a bit tension as to the safer form of lithium battery technology-
    https://www.energy-storage.news/news/lfp-vs-nmc-not-a-silver-bullet-solution-for-safety
    Although fixed battery providers like Redflow may have a point that if transport is to be batteryfied it won’t make much sense to use up light weight lithium for fixed battery backup for the grid. OTOH increasing demand for lithium resources should make that clear fairly shortly via the price mechanism with the rush to EVs.

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