ESI helps launch National Battery Strategy

Energy Storage Industries – Asia Pacific (ESI), a locally owned and operated company, represented Queensland’s battery industry at the Prime Minister’s announcement of the National Battery Strategy on Thursday, 23 May.

The announcement was also attended by Queensland Premier Steven Miles, Federal Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic and Federal Member for Lilley Anika Wells MP.

The strategy noted that the global demand for batteries is set to quadruple by 2030 as the world transitions to net zero. It identifies high-value strategic opportunities that ESI will overwhelmingly support, including:

• Stationary storage - building Energy Storage Systems to firm renewable power generation in the national grid and for communities, businesses and homes.

• Provide battery active materials to the world by upgrading raw minerals into processed battery components to strengthen battery supply chains.

• Leveraging our world-leading know-how to build safer and more secure batteries connected to the grid.

ESI is preparing to start construction of a manufacturing facility for grid-scale batteries, with production from the second half of 2025.

The company’s iron flow batteries, which are the first type of storage that can provide renewable energy overnight, are already being provided to Queensland-owned Stanwell Corporation.

ESI Managing Director Stuart Parry said the non-flammable batteries were a game-changer for renewable energy, helping to keep lights on overnight energy with batteries made of abundant Queensland iron ore, water and salt.

“Within this decade our batteries will provide enough energy storage for 20 per cent of Australia’s renewable energy needs,” ESI Managing Director Stuart Parry said.

“We will also be providing significant broader benefits to the community, including 500 highly skilled jobs and a contribution of more than $9 billion to Queensland’s economy alone over the next 20 years.”