Australia has suddenly become the third-largest importer of Chinese batteries as it rapidly shifts to domestic renewable energy.
In March, Australia accounted for almost 10% of new global battery capacity, with 2,000 home batteries installed a day so far this year. Beijing’s trade war with Washington has pushed prices down, an analyst told the Financial Times, and Australians are racing to take advantage: “We have never seen anything of this magnitude before.”
Australia’s coal power is sometimes unreliable, and there is poor connectivity between states, meaning the country’s widespread home solar needs batteries to smooth out intermittent supply. Renewable energy now generates about half of Australian supply, and batteries increasingly set the price of power on the east coast.