Energy Storage without the cost of a battery

News articles grab attention with stories that electricity utilities may want to turn off rooftop solar PV systems at times, and to turn off air conditioning systems at other times. 

What you won't find are articles on how appliances provide options for individuals and businesses themselves to adjust their energy production and consumption to best support the electricity grid. These options do not require any power for electricity utilities to interfere in how people run their own homes and businesses. 

How a Hot Water System can provide 4 kilowatt hours or more energy storage 

Many hot water systems are designed to operate as follows: 

1. Heat water to a minimum of 60℃. This is to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. 
2. Ensure water is delivered from the hot water system at no more than 50℃. This is to lower the risk of scald injuries. 
3. Optionally, heat water to a maximum of 70℃ or 75℃. This is to allow more hot water, at 50℃, to be available. 

The delivery temperature of 50℃ is achieved by mixing the stored hot water with some cold water in a Temperature Limiting Device. 

 

The amount of energy needed to heat 90 litres of water from 60℃ to 70℃ is 1 kilowatt hour.

A 360-litre Hot Water System, for instance, can be used to store 4 kilowatt hours of electrical energy by raising the temperature of water in it from 60℃ to 70℃. 

There is no need to buy a battery to store energy if you own a suitable Hot Water System. 

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The Argument for Smart Switches

Time of Use charging has long been proposed to "encourage" electricity consumers to avoid using electricity at times when demand is highest. However, if you examine the National Electricity Market data, you will find that this is not especially helpful. The reason is that there are periods of extremely high wholesale (NEM) prices when demand is relatively low, and conversely, there are times when there are very low wholesale prices when demand is quite high. Moreover, these intervals do not conveniently coincide with any particular time of the day that "Time of Use" charging requires.

It is more appropriate to adjust the system so that electricity is preferable consumed when the wholesale (NEM) price is relatively low, and avoid consuming electricity at this times when the price is extremely high. This can be implemented with "smart chargers" that examine the NEM price before deciding whether to store energy - in a Hot Water System, an Electric Vehicle Battery, or a Home Battery.

Analysis of the National Electricity Market Data for NSW in November and December 2024 (see "How to lower the price of electricity") that shows that the price of electricity consumed in a small proportion of the time contributed enormously to the overall cost of electricity consumed in those months. Smart switches that help to reduce electricity consumed in such periods, and preferable store more electricity whenever the price is relatively low, can lower the total cost.

Moving millions of dollars from Australia to New Zealand - Does the ATO ignore suspicious dealings

 A Kiwi used a strange process to move over $65 million from Australia to New Zealand.

The Australian Taxation Office has wide-ranging data gathering and analysis capabilities. It is inconceivable that it did not detect this case and cannot detect many cases like the one described here. 

Records available in the New Zealand company office show: 

1. $11 million was transferred between a set of New Zealand companies created a few days before, and removed soon after, where one person controlled all the companies used: 

2. $54 million was transferred between a set of New Zealand companies created a few days before, and removed soon after, where the same person controlled all the companies used: 

The destination of the first transfer, of $11 million, is mentioned again in an Annual Report of the company named Stockton Assets Limited: 

The source of the $millions

Companies in Australia are identified as shareholders in Priority Investments Limited, the New Zealand company name used in the transfer of the $millions: 

Australian company office records point to two significant pieces of information about these two companies: 

1. The person who controlled the New Zealand companies that received the funds is the same person who controlled these Australian companies, and

2. Rocksprings Enterprises Limited, the New Zealand company that received the funds in New Zealand - as a loan - was the ultimate owner of the two Australian companies that was the source of the money sent from Australia to New Zealand.

A List of Source Documents and Entities Involved

The documents are available for browsing at google drive => See the list of documents here

A list of source documents and entities involved

 

Click on the title to view the documents in this list. Each document opens in a new tab.

1.       Priority Investments Limited and subsidiary companies

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1997

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

2.       Stockton Assets Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1997

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

3.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1998

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

4.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1999

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 24 December 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2021

5.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2000

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 25 October 2001

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

6.       Priority Investments Limited (862094)

a.        Annual return for 2000 – online document filing

b.       Directors and Shareholders –

Directors

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholders

Oriano Golo (sic Gold) Pty Limited – 11,445,100 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

Technomin Australia Pty Ltd – 54,404,000 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

c.        Is the company a subsidiary of a company incorporated outside New Zealand? Yes

d.       Are 25% or more of voting shares held by a person / body corporate ordinarily resident outside New Zealand? Yes

7.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2001

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 25 October 2001

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

8.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2002

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 January 2003

c.        Lodged with Company Office 24 March 2003

9.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Statement of Financial Performance for the period ended 30 June 2003

b.       Lodged with Company Office ?

10.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2004

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 23 November 2004

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

11.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Change of Shareholders – lodged 28 November 2006

Shareholders – Current

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited – 65,849,100 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholders – Previous

Technomin Australia Pty Ltd – 54,404,000 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

Shareholders – Removed

Oriano Golo (sic Gold) Pty Limited – 11,445,100 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

12.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Change of Shareholders – lodged 3 April 2009

Shareholders - Current

Wayne Jones – 65,849,100 shares

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Shareholders - Previous

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited – 65,849,100 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

13.  Technomin Australia Pty Limited

a.        ASIC Current and Historical Information

Director – 25 Jul 1986 to 4 Nov 2017

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Director – 4 Jun 2008 to 27 Jun 2009

Rebecca Catherine Thompson

20 Falls Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040

Director – 28 Jan 1997 to 4 Jun 2008

Malcolm John Kendall

12 Endeavour Street, Sylvania, NSW 2224

Registered Address – 17 Oct 1994 to 29 Oct 2007

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089

Ultimate Holding Company – 28 Jan 1996 to 18 Jan 2015

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

14.  Oriana Gold Pty Limited – 11 Aug 1994 to 10 Dec 2007

a.        ASIC Current and Historical Information

Director – 5 Jun 2008

Wayne Jones

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Director – 25 Sep 1986 to 5 Jun 2008

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Director – 28 Jan 1997 to 4 Jun 2008

Malcolm John Kendall

12 Endeavour Street, Sylvania, NSW 2224

Registered Address – 17 Oct 1994 to 29 Oct 2007

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089

Ultimate Holding Company

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

Shareholder – 16 May 2024

Wayne Jones

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Previous Shareholder – 26 Jun 2008

Agriwealth Pty Limited

PO BOX 718, Neutral Bay NSW 2089

Previous Shareholder – 24 Oct 2007

Technomin Australia Limited

PO BOX 718, Neutral Bay NSW 2089

15.  Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

a.        New Zealand Company Extract

Incorporated – 9 Jun 1994

Director

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholder

John Leslie Thompson – 117 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

How to lower the price of electricity

The Australian National Electricity Market is a surprising source of high electricity prices.

For instance, in November 2024, households and businesses in New South Wales used electricity in just ten hours that cost electricity retailers over $672 million. 

All of the electricity used in the other 29 days and 14 hours of November costs retailers less: $615 million. 

The retailers will recoup this cost from their customers via higher retail prices that take effect in one year's time. Note that the higher retail prices will affect all the customers of electricity retailers - even if they did not use any electricity during those ten hours in November when the wholesale cost was so extreme. 

There are some things that can be done to overcome these exorbitant wholesale electricity costs. 

If homes and businesses had energy management systems, these could have a function to reduce electricity consumption from the National Electricity Market in those brief periods that contribute so much to the retail price in the following year. 

The homes and businesses with energy management systems could enter their choices on how to deal with each 5-minute interval where the cost of electricity from the National Energy Market was extreme. 

• If any battery storage was available, the system could be instructed to use stored electricity at those times. 
• If an appliance did not need to run in any five-minute interval, such as a pool pump, it could be instructed to switch off for one or more 5-minute intervals - until it had to be started or the wholesale price had dropped.
  

UPDATE, 1 January 2025

Comparison of Electricity purchased in NSW in November and December 2024

The National Electricity Market data available for the wholesale cost of electricity in NSW in November and December shows: 

• For November, NSW electricity consumers used a total of 5,074,855 megawatt-hours (MWh) for a total cost of $1,337 million. That is $263 per megawatt-hour (MWh).
• For December, NSW electricity consumers used a total of 5,381,036 megawatt-hours (MWh) for a total cost of $886 million. That is $165 per megawatt-hour (MWh).

The data for producing the above summary was downloaded from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) web page "Aggregated price and demand data". 

The difference in price, $263/MWh in November and $165/MWh in December is the result of there being fewer 5-minute intervals in which the price was greater than $1,000 per MWh. 

• In November there were 92 x 5-minute intervals, which is 7 hours and 40 minutes, when the electricity price was greater than $1,000 per MWh. In these 7 hours and 40 minutes the amount of electricity sold was 70,358 MWh and the price was $706 million.
• The electricity used in those 7 hours and 40 minutes cost NSW businesses and households $10 per kWh. How many would pay that much for so little if they were given a choice?
  
• In December there were 45 x 5-minute intervals, which is 3 hours and 45 minutes, when the electricity price was greater than $1,000 per MWh. In these 3 hours and 45 minutes the amount of electricity sold was 37,498 MWh and the price was $276 million.

The National Electricity Market compels consumers to pay exorbitant prices for electricity

 

The difference in cost to the electricity retailers who bought this electricity and supplied it to their customers was $430 million. This difference is responsible for the average wholesale price of $263 / MWh in November and $165 / MWh in December.

Note that the change was not because of a change in the total demand for electricity, and it was not due to the technology used to generate electricity. There were the same coal-fired power plants operating in both months. There were the same renewable energy producers operating in both months.

These wholesale electricity costs will be reflected in retail electricity prices in a year's time. 

For information on how to lower the cost of electricity, see "Energy Storage without the cost of a battery", which includes specific specific advice at the sub-heading "The Argument for Smart Switches".

This is a list of the 45 x 5-minute intervals in December 2024 when the wholesale cost of all electricity bought from the National Energy Market in NSW cost more than $1,000 per megawatt-hour: 

REGION	SETTLEMENTDATE	TOTALDEMAND	RRP	PERIODTYPE
NSW1	2/12/2024 11:30	6651.21	1062.2	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 11:55	6915.82	1120.5	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 12:05	7108.53	1120.5	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 12:15	7217.56	1072.66	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 17:35	11420.62	4438.07	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 17:40	11345.36	1265.73	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 17:45	11334.87	1060.61	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 17:50	11419.9	15619.87	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 17:55	11364.47	15502.98	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:00	11296.77	15529.65	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:05	11266.03	15576.4	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:10	11231.36	10854.53	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:15	11227.95	14028.89	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:20	11221.26	15799.26	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:25	11189.63	14028.89	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:30	11126.46	10722.84	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:35	11050.58	4308.54	TRADE
NSW1	2/12/2024 18:40	10980.05	4231.24	TRADE
NSW1	3/12/2024 11:40	9317.21	11267.8	TRADE
NSW1	3/12/2024 11:45	9329.63	17499.89	TRADE
NSW1	3/12/2024 11:50	9440.51	14100	TRADE
NSW1	3/12/2024 11:55	9495.45	11922.71	TRADE
NSW1	6/12/2024 14:30	11100.69	17480	TRADE
NSW1	6/12/2024 14:35	11160.06	17499.89	TRADE
NSW1	6/12/2024 14:45	11445.71	15766.43	TRADE
NSW1	6/12/2024 14:55	11505.06	14101.5	TRADE
NSW1	7/12/2024 18:30	10371.8	4127.15	TRADE
NSW1	8/12/2024 18:00	8800.48	2268.8	TRADE
NSW1	9/12/2024 14:40	4981.68	1071.59	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 17:50	10089.88	1227.61	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 17:55	9949.16	1079.75	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:00	9944.71	1027.83	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:15	10037.17	1257.89	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:25	10068.36	4450.07	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:30	9915.42	1259.54	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:35	9928.09	1276.32	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:40	9867.52	1276.93	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 18:45	9864.79	1276.83	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:00	9897.33	1292.69	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:05	9755.56	1310.71	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:10	9730.42	4396.17	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:15	9687.3	4451.8	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:20	9685.14	9463.19	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:25	9591.38	1108.15	TRADE
NSW1	12/12/2024 19:30	9650.85	1129.09	TRADE

Replacing natural gas for domestic use and LNG exports

Farms in Australia have an opportunity to earn income from crop and animal waste streams. Queensland in particular has a network of coal seam gas pipelines crossing farmland. These could be exploited to make and sell bio-methane on farms with renewable energy. 

This avoids the need for construction of connections to Australia's electricity grid, and the wait for approval to connect solar and wind farms to the grid. 

One tonne of bio-methane stores approximately 55 gigajoules of energy. It consists of 750 kilograms of carbon and 250 kilograms of hydrogen. 

Biomass created on farms, whether crop waste or animal waste, is a mixture of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. It represents solar energy stored by photosynthesis in plants that have removed the carbon from the atmosphere. 

Biomass containing carbon and hydrogen to make one tonne of bio-methane would also contain about two tonnes of oxygen. 

If the biomass was, say, sawdust, the quantity required to make one tonne of bio-methane would be two tonnes dry weight with a moisture content of about 30 percent - equal to one tonne of water. 

To start the process of bio-methane production, an initial supply of hydrogen is needed.

After the process has begun, steam that is a by-product of making bio-methane would be converted to hydrogen and oxygen in a steam electrolyser using renewable energy. 

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The hydrogen made in this step would then be used to create more bio-methane, and more steam. An external hydrogen supply is not needed to continue the production of bio-methane. 

Also note that no supply of water is needed. The process obtains the water for electrolysis from the biomass that is used to make bio-methane. 

Recent articles on the process include:

• Methane Production from the Pyrolysis–Catalytic Hydrogenation of Waste Biomass, and
• Hydropyrolysis to produce biomethane from pine sawdust.

This approach to making bio-methane stores renewable energy from two sources:

• The solar energy stored by the plants that made the biomass via photosynthesis, and
• The renewable energy from wind and/or solar photovoltaic panels that splits the hydrogen from oxygen in the steam electrolysis step. 

Other advantages include:

• There is no need to wait for the cost of making "green hydrogen" to become viable.
• There is no need to wait for the development of hydrogen supply lines to be built.

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Small Modular Reactors assessed in UK Government Report

The UK Government issued two reports on 17 June 2024 on its nuclear power plans.

To locate the reports, start on two different UK Government web pages that each describe similar looking reports that are both dated 17 June 2024:

The UK Government's Development Expenditure Scheme Report

1.  Referral of the proposed Sizewell C Devex scheme by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has published a report providing advice to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) concerning its proposed Sizewell C Development Expenditure (Devex) Scheme.

• Final report (17.6.24)

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Independent report
Report on the proposed Sizewell C Development Expenditure Scheme by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has published a report providing advice to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) concerning its proposed Sizewell C Development Expenditure (Devex) Scheme.

Report on the proposed Sizewell C Devex Scheme
PDF, 296 KB, 21 pages

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The UK Government's Final Investment Decision Report

2.  Referral of the proposed Sizewell C Final Investment Decision (FID) scheme by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB)

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has published a report providing advice to DESNZ and UKIB concerning the proposed Sizewell C FID scheme.

• Final report (17.6.24)

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Independent report

Report on the proposed Sizewell C Final Investment Decision Scheme by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has published a report providing advice to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) concerning the proposed Sizewell C Final Investment Decision (FID) Scheme.

Report on the proposed Sizewell C FID Scheme
PDF, 4.09 MB, 30 pages

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A copy of the Final Investment Decision report is here: