The main cost of an electric vehicle is its battery. The high cost of energy-dense batteries has meant EVs have long been more expensive than their fossil fuel equivalents. But this could change faster than we thought.
Billions of dollars are being spent worldwide to modernise electricity grids with smart meters. These meters promise to save households money by making it easier for us to understand and manage our energy use. However, our new research suggests these promises might not be fully delivered due to a lack of access to high-resolution, real-time energy data.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency Chief Executive Officer Darren Miller sheds light on the agency’s role in helping to deliver the renewable energy superpower vision – emphasising the critical role of green hydrogen and ultra-low cost solar.
2023 was the year of the big battery in the National Electricity Market. The year started with 10 batteries registered in the market and ended with a doubling to 20, with no signs of a slowdown.
Rooftop solar is Australia’s cheapest source of electricity. The consumer can get electricity from rooftop solar at less than a fifth of the average cost per kWh of buying it from a retailer.
The Queensland government has formally identified 12 potential renewable energy zones across the state as part of its plans to connect 22 GW of new grid-scale wind and solar generation needed to help achieve its clean energy targets.
The Australian, Tasmanian and Victorian governments have signed off on a new ownership agreement to deliver the contentious Marinus Link high-voltage Tasmania-Victoria interconnection project.
Victorian electricity distributor Powercor has identified a clutch of towns in the state’s central highlands region as possible hosts for community-scale microgrids as it works to deliver improved energy security and reliability for customers across the state.
Energy storage specialist Lochard Energy has secured a $2 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that will underpin a feasibility study into large-scale underground storage of green hydrogen in southwest Victoria.
Three Australia-based alumni of climate tech startup accelerator EnergyLab raised a collective $124 million in 2023 for their renewables and energy transition concepts.
British developer Lightsource bp’s plans to build the biggest solar farm and battery energy storage system on any of Australia’s main electricity grids has a green light to proceed after securing environmental approval from the Australian government.
Western Australian regional energy provider Horizon Power will trial two novel long-duration energy storage technologies – including a zinc-bromine flow battery provided by Queensland manufacturer Redflow – as it seeks to identify new energy storage solutions for off-grid communities dealing with high levels of solar and extreme weather.
Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar says its solar module shipments reached 78.5 GW in 2023. This year, it says it hopes to sell up to 110 GW of panels.
Australian oil and gas developer Lion Energy is considering utilising rooftop solar to help power an integrated green hydrogen generation and distribution facility approved for the Port of Brisbane in Queensland.
Gas and electricity company APA Group has launched Australia’s largest remote-grid solar farm, announcing the official opening of the 88 MW Dugald River Solar Farm in outback Queensland.
Rail freight company Aurizon is steering a project to develop the next generation of Australian freight trains, aiming to transition from diesel fuel to battery technology to power its fleet as it works to deliver zero-emissions capable freight locomotives.
The private owner and operator of South Australiaʼs electricity transmission network has laid out its plans to manage the challenges and opportunities of the state’s energy transition, including investing in major transmission projects to serve an expected increase in demand.
A coalition of community groups have branded the estimated $4.9 billion HumeLink transmission project defective and the New South Wales government reckless to ignore safety and environmental concerns.
Victorian distribution network service providers CitiPower and Powercor have partnered with United Kingdom-based software provider Piclo which is to deliver a cloud-based digital marketplace platform designed to improve grid flexibility.
A team of Australian researchers has designed a new catalyst that has the potential to deliver a new generation of lithium-sulfur batteries that are capable of being charged in less than five minutes, instead of several hours as is currently the case.
Following the launch of its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro module series at Shanghai’s SNEC expo last year, manufacturing heavyweight JA Solar has revealed some of its latest line’s key performance improvements at a technology forum in Sydney this month. Performance highlights include module efficiencies of 22.8%, decreased degradation, improved temperature coefficients, and better low-light performance.
The new panel has a white backsheet and a temperature coefficient of -0.34/C. It weighs 4.1 kg per m2 and, according to the manufacturer, supports all types of installation methods, including roof adhesive and removal mechanical mounting.
Perth-based resources company Australian Vanadium Limited has executed another element of its planned ‘pit to battery’ strategy, producing the first battery-ready vanadium electrolyte at its new manufacturing facility in Western Australia.
Chinese solar manufacturer Longi has responded to recent media reports claiming that it might cut 30% of its global workforce.
Chinese manufacturer DAH Solar says its new double-glass panels have a power conversion efficiency of 22.65% and a power output of up to 585 W.
Battery technology company Lithium Australia’s 100%-owned subsidiary Envirostream is seeking to scale up its battery recycling efforts, signing an updated agreement with South Korean manufacturer LG Energy Solution in a move that could deliver 770 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries for recycling.
Adelaide-headquartered renewable energy gen-tailer Zen Energy will build South Australia’s second-largest battery energy storage system in a move expected to boost the reliability of electricity supply as the state gallops towards its 100% renewable energy target.
Western Australian government-owned utility Synergy has commenced construction of its third grid-scale battery as the state government looks to ramp up energy storage capacity to support its planned transition from coal-fired power generation to renewables.
The Victorian state government has reported a record uptake of hot water rebates and has announced an expansion of this program. Meanwhile, six projects have been given funding to deliver 25 neighbourhood batteries across 20 towns.
Researchers in Italy have estimated the profitability of future vanadium redox flow batteries based on real device and market parameters and found that market evolutions are heading to much more competitive systems, with capital costs down to $430/kWh at a storage duration of 10 hours.
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