Stored Potential
Small Steps Vol. 120: From mega-batteries to brain science, we’re looking at how to hold energy - electric and human - and release it when it counts.
🔋 Batteries are having a moment
It's been a big couple months for batteries, with our grid getting a couple of new shock absorbers to soak up renewables, help smooth out demand and stabilise the system.
In early August, the Waratah Super Battery was connected to the NSW grid and switched on, becoming Australia’s largest battery. Built on the site of a former coal plant, the battery will be at full power later this year, and will act as a buffer for the whole state, making outages rarer, energy cheaper, and the shift to clean power more resilient.
However the Waratah’s reign as Australia’s biggest battery was to be short-lived. Not to be outdone by their east coast compatriots, West Australia’s Collie Battery, the first to feature more than 2 GWh of storage, raced through its commissioning process and became operational, supporting the WA grid as of late August. To put its size in perspective, it has 17 times as much storage as the original Tesla big battery in South Australia and 5 times the storage of the Victorian Big Battery.
Records will continue to tumble over the next few years, with a strong pipeline of grid-scale battery energy storage projects forecast to increase capacity 7x-9x by the end of 2027.
Image Source: Modo Energy
At the same time we’ve seen the highly successful roll-out of the Albanese government’s Cheaper Home Batteries program seeing just under 20,000 batteries installed in the first month. The program has been so successful that the $2.3bn allocated by the government may be exhausted well before the planned end of the scheme in 2030.
It’s all part of ensuring we build resilience into our grid to ensure it can keep pace with our energy transition…something we will be diving a little deeper into soon!
🧠 What’s we’re thinking about
🌿 Mind-blowing nature. Our brains don’t just enjoy nature, being in it changes how they function. A new book called Nature and the Mind pulls together the latest science showing what we all intuitively feel - that surrounding ourselves with trees to coastlines can improve attention, cognition, immunity and emotional balance.
🕒 The brain-friendly workday. Work better by working differently. This AFR piece breaks down how neuroscience can help you rethink your daily rhythm, fewer meetings, more breaks and better alignment with your brain’s natural focus zones. The end result? Less burnout, more flow.
💧 A quarter of your water. Artificial intelligence may run on data, but it drinks water. We’ve all heard about the massive energy requirements of AI, but this article reveals how training and running AI models consumes surprising volumes of water, often out of sight. As AI use scales, this hidden cost will demand more attention - especially in drought-prone regions.
🔌 Can data centres be responsible grid citizens? Data centres usually show up in climate stories as villains (see above), but they could also be part of the solution. In this podcast from Volts, host David Roberts explores how we could potentially turn data centres into grid-stabilising assets.
📰 Perplexity's publisher play. Amid growing tensions between AI platforms and media outlets, Perplexity is proposing a different approach. Their new revenue-share model promises publishers both money and meaningful attribution when their content is surfaced. It’s early days, but it could signal a way forward to a heated debate.
⚠️ NDIS changes are close - and families are worried. Major NDIS reforms are just around the corner, and families are bracing for impact.
📰 In the news
📦 Sendle merges to take on the big players. Sendle has just entered a three-way merger positioning itself to scale fast and compete with major postal networks in the US.
🧬 A new chapter in women’s health. As part of Ovum AI's official launch, Dr. Ariella Heffernan Marks was invited to join the Channel 9 news desk for an interview about the mission behind Ovum and the movement they are driving within women’s health.
🦗Scaling insect-powered waste management. Goterra founder Olympia Yarger was invited to The Mucky Middle podcast to share what it takes to steer a first-of-its-kind from vision to commercial success.
New Paths
🔋 Amber is hiring for a Strategic Growth Operations Manager (Melbourne) and a Senior Hedging Manager (Melbourne).
🚀 Mindset Health is hiring for a Head of Marketing (Melbourne) a Conversational AI Designer (Melbourne) and a Partnerships Manager (New York).
💡 Investible is hiring for an Investor Relations Associate.
Save the Date
📅 8 September Climate Salad Webinar: Decarbonising the Built Environment - Online
📅 10 September Cicada x Tech23 - Sydney
📅 17 September Startmate Alumni Showcase - Sydney
📅 19 September HEXPO 2025 - Festival of Ideas & Innovation - Melbourne
📅 11 November Remarkable Disability Tech Summit 2025 - Sydney