AusFinance

986 readers

1 users here now

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Consumers tapping the spot power market are cleaning up, covering 'a month's bill' in a night (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Mr Purcell admits he initially bought his battery as a form of insurance against the volatility inherent in the spot market.

However, his thinking quickly changed when he saw the opportunities on offer, describing one instance in which he was able to fill up his 10-kilowatt-hour battery with electricity costing 1 cent per unit.

"That's the opportunity and the risk on the very low prices," he said.

"It cost me 10 cents to fill the battery during the middle of the day.

"And then at night-time the price went up over $10 a kilowatt hour, so I was able to export that same 10 kilowatts out of that battery for $100."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (11 children)

Pretty soon this won't be possible.

Because the 'free market' will adjust.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (10 children)

I dont think its actually possible now. You can download the amber electric app now if you want it, and monitor the prices.

Its true that the prices can go very low or negative during the day, but if you have solar, that is when your producing anyway, so your excess power gets exported for basically nothing. If your solar is having a bad day (cloudly/rainy/whatever), then everyone elses solar will be as well, and the spot price will be high anyway.

If you fill your battery at 1c, and then export it back at $10, your electricity costs are $10 per kw, so if you end up using more you'll very rapidly eat away all your profits. So you have to live like a hermit when your battery runs out.

I think this article is just an ad for Amber electricity, there is no evidence of the $10k savings, so I think its just bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

eh, depends.

I mean our solar rig generates on average 3x our daily usage. (No battery as of yet, working towards it). So a big enough battery could quite easily give us the means to store and resell as well as cover night usage in the warmer months.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I can imagine this becoming a full time job itself, just to make sure you don’t get absolutely mauled when the spot price goes through the roof.

load more comments (8 replies)