POWER December 2020 - 15

GLOBAL MONITOR
ment from Tesla. The installation will be
designed to provide backup power to the
grid in an area that has been prone to
blackouts. It is scheduled to come online
in November 2021. The battery in part will
help the region offset the expected closure
of the 1,450-MW coal-fired Yallourn
power station. " This is a game-changer
for Victoria's transition from old coalburning
power stations to clean energy, "
Environment Victoria CEO Jono La
Nauze said in a news release. The installation,
near Geelong, will be more than
twice the size of the storage installation
at Hornsdale, South Australia, which was
the world's largest when it entered operation
in 2017. Neoen won the right to
build the Victoria battery through a tender
run by the Australian Energy Market
Operator. The company's contract
runs until 2032. The battery will provide
backup power, along with network services
needed to support renewable energy,
including fast frequency control.
Power Link Between Belgium, Germany
Comes Online. Germany and Belgium
in November inaugurated the first
power interconnector between the two
countries. The 1-GW Alegro link is set
to provide intraday capacity beginning
in early December. Long-term capacity
auctions will begin in 2021, according
to Amprion, the transmission system
operator. Alegro is a 90-kilometer highvoltage,
direct-current underground
cable connecting the Aachen and Liege
regions. Testing of the link began in October;
it was inaugurated in a ceremony
at Aachen on Nov. 9. Integration of the
link into flow-based market coupling
(FBMC) across parts of Europe coincides
with the start of a new power balancing
regime by Germany's transmission
system operators, as they seek to improve
the region's electricity balancing.
Belgium is working to ensure a steady
supply of electricity as it plans to shut
down its nuclear reactors no later than
2025. Belgium's nuclear fleet has 6 GW
of generation capacity; government data
showed nuclear power supplied 43% of
the country's electricity at the start of
November. The government has said it
will make a final decision on the fate of
its nuclear fleet by November 2021, as it
assesses whether the country will have
a secure supply of electricity. Government
officials have said they could provide
lifetime operating extensions to at
least two reactors if needed.
Toshiba, Next Kraftwerke Have VPP
Deal. Toshiba's energy business in early
November announced plans for a joint
venture with Next Kraftwerke, the German
developer of virtual power plants
(VPPs), as the companies prepare for the
opening of Japan's grid control reserve
market in April 2021. Toshiba will hold a
51% controlling stake in the $1.73 million
deal. The companies said they will offer
support services to owners of renewable
energy assets that are looking to
participate in the control reserve market.
That market will pay power generators for
grid frequency balancing services. Toshiba
said the joint venture will utilize Next
Kraftwerke's expertise in forecasting and
energy trading to help market entrants
minimize the risk of grid imbalance, and
maximize earnings from the wholesale
power market along with power purchase
agreements. Japan's renewables incentives
program is scheduled to move from
a fixed feed-in tariff system to a feed-in
premium system in April 2022. Toshiba in
a news release said Next Kraftwerke already
has experience in feed-in premium
clean energy markets in Europe. ■
-Darrell Proctor is POWER's
associate editor.
December 2020 | POWER
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