South east Queensland will receive another 17 electric buses added to the public transport fleet with the first e-bus scheduled to start services in February before the other 16 progressively join the network.

State Government public transport agency Translink said it had worked with the Queensland branch of transport giant Transdev to order the electric buses, which will service Brisbane’s eastern suburbs.

The new buses will be at least partly charged by the existing solar system installed at Transdev’s Capalaba depot.

Volgren’s Eagle Farm manufacturing facility on Brisbane’s northside will build the buses.

Each 12.5m Volvo BZL bus built will support five jobs and feature dual 300kW electric motors and seat 43 passengers.

Battery project moves closer

North Queensland’s plans for its first grid-forming big battery have taken another step to becoming a reality with final development approval being received.

The 200MW/400MWh Yabulu BESS project is being developed by ACE Energy on land at Black River, about 25km north of Townsville.

The location for the project is next to a proposed 100MW solar farm that is being developed on the same landholding as the BESS by a separate entity to ACE Energy and likely after the battery is complete.

ACE Energy said the BESS would charge and discharge from its own independent connection to Powerlink’s 132kV Yabulu South substation and there would be “no interaction with the solar farm, physically or electrically”.

Rather, the Yabulu big battery would operate in “grid-forming mode,” meaning it will be used to provide system strength to the network in the Townsville region, with construction of the BESS slated to begin in 2023/24.

State funding for microgrids

The Queensland Government has announced an initial $10 million in grants to explore the benefits of microgrid technologies as it looks at ways to increase resilience and reliability of electricity supply to remote and regional communities.

The State Government said the $10 million Queensland Microgrid Pilot Fund (QMPF) would be used to develop a series of microgrids that would be connected to the main grid but also able to operate independently if required.

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the fund aimed to improve the resilience and reliability of electricity supply in the state’s regional and remote communities, some of which still rely on diesel-fuelled generators.

Remote communities can now apply for the funding as part of the transformation of the state’s energy system.

Battery casing startup to expand

Queensland-based ReNu Energy will acquire up to a 20% stake in fellow Brisbane company startup, Vaulta, which has developed a ‘circular’ battery casing technology optimised for reuse and recycling.

Vaulta will use the eventual $1 million investment from ReNu to scale its manufacturing capability and expand domestic and offshore sales.

Vaulta has developed and patented a streamlined, no-weld design for battery casing.

The casing involves few parts and is optimised for ease of both assembly and disassembly, crucial for cell replacement, reuse and recycling.

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