The government’s Climate Solutions Fund offers little hope for financial-industry backers of a Paris aligned economic recovery writes Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies with IEEFA Australasia

While covid-19 will cause a lot of short-term pain, it presents us with a unique opportunity to accelerate the clean energy transition.

A major new report finds there is a pathway to zero emissions for every major economic sector in Australia. Over 18 months in the making, Decarbonisation Futures offers fresh ideas for how Australia can embrace the zero-emissions future that is visible on the other side of the pandemic, writes Amandine Denis-Ryan of ClimateWorks Australia.

Over the past few months, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global economic and social crisis. The pandemic has significantly affected all aspects of life, including the energy sector.

Coal has underpinned power generation for more than a century as a cheap, reliable and well understood technology, writes IHS Markit analyst George Hilton. Decommissioning of coal generation, in light of global efforts to reduce carbon emissions, will radically change the energy landscape and potentially leave a substantial gap to be filled by energy storage technologies.

Solar wholesaler BayWa r.e. is partnering with industry trainer Global Sustainable Energy Solutions (GSES) on training provision seeking to ameliorate a noticeable lack of quality control within the rapidly growing solar industry.

In the face of renewed political polarisation on the both Federal energy policy and Australia’s economic recovery from the impact of Covid-19, Warringah MP Zali Steggall has called for a Roundtable in which both public and private sector voices of the nation can better vet potential projects.

The Greens released their plan for Australia’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis this week. The plan looks to invest heavily in renewable infrastructure, a cunningly rational ploy to solve a few crises at once.

The Palaszczuk Government is providing funding to accelerate a $1.5 billion transmission link stretching from Townsville to Mount Isa in North Queensland in a bid to stimulate large-scale solar and wind investment and underpin the creation of local battery industry.

Italian-headquartered module manufacturer FuturaSun has completed accrediting its module range with the Clean Energy Council.

The controversial Snowy 2.0 project has mounted a major hurdle after the New South Wales government this week announced approval for its main works.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder, in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia (WA), is set to receive the region’s first community battery. The WA Government-owned utility Western Power is looking to smooth out peak load periods by integrating the Tesla battery into the network.

As the fossil fuel industry applauds new legislative changes proposed by the Morrison government, which would pave the way for coal and gas projects to tap clean energy finance, environmental groups are shaking their heads in disbelief at the government’s lack of initiative to deliver a sensible climate policy. More than ever before, the fate of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is at stake.

The unique solar, wind, and battery project has been completed at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine, marking Australia’s largest hybrid microgrid of its kind.

Energy Estate and RES are partnering to put together 2 GW of solar, wind, energy storage and transmission infrastructure in the Fitzroy REZ, in what the duo is calling the Central Queensland Power projects.

Epho Commercial Solar has developed a proof point for urban solar power stations that can flexibly deliver clean energy behind the meter to commercial customers and replace fossil fuels at the heart of the NEM.

The e-commerce giant will add a second utility-scale PV project to its renewables portfolio in Australia as it seeks to offset its local carbon footprint.

The Western Downs solar farm will deploy German power electronics fabricated locally in Australia, with SMA announcing it has picked up a contract to supply the 400MWac development.

The country’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy is seeking proposals for 30 large-scale solar plants. The selected developers will be awarded 20-year power purchase agreements.

Risen Energy Australia has been confirmed as a solar panel partner on the Resilient Energy Collective bushfire relief campaign, which aims to install stand-alone solar and Tesla battery systems at up to 100 sites around Australia.

A massive project, which promises to transform baseload power in New South Wales, is finalizing planning, development studies, and offtake agreements. The initial target for Project NEO is to deliver 1000 MW of green hydrogen using solar, wind, and hydrogen fuel cells.

In a world-first, perovskite solar cells developed by Australian scientists have passed a series of heat and humidity tests using a low-cost solution to overcome some of the challenges that are hindering the technology’s commercialization. The scientists did this by suppressing the decomposition of the perovskite cells using a simple, low-cost polymer-glass blanket.

Homegrown fast-charging technology company Tritium has launched “Plug and Charge,” a seamlessly simultaneous way to charge your electric vehicle and pay for the pleasure.

Researchers from Charles Darwin University have conducted a ‘cradle to grave’ life cycle assessment (LCA) of the four most widely used PV technologies. The academics say that cadmium telluride solar modules have the lowest life cycle impact, followed by amorphous, multi and monocrystalline silicon products.

The University of Queensland has released a performance report on the Tesla Powerpack it installed in December 2019. Across a range of revenue streams, the Powerpack is already earning the university some serious cash.

The solar manufacturer with manufacturing in Singapore has filed a claim against its Korean competitor relating to REC’s split-cell and junction box technology.

The German manufacturer secured around 60% of the turnover expected this year in the first three months alone but still posted a net loss. Much of the company’s demand in the period was related to pre-Covid-19 activity in the U.S. and European solar markets.

Chinese manufacturer JA Solar has announced a new 525 W+ panel and said the product will be available from the second half. Domestic rival Risen has shipped the first batch of its high-powered modules and intends to stick to pre-Covid-19 plans to ramp up production.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has found that the country already has the technical capability to safely operate a system where three-quarters of electricity comes from wind and solar. However, to do so it needs to get regulations right.

The 11th edition of the German document which tracks solar price falls and efficiency improvements has considered the role bigger wafers are playing in cost reduction.

The substantial surge in storage revenue due to specific grid conditions in Australia was one of the main factors behind a 61% year-on-year increase in revenues Neoen saw in the first quarter of the year.

The Australian Energy Market Commission is hoping to gather evidence from industry on how they would be affected by the potential delay of the five-minute settlement start date by one year.

To help achieve its global-leading renewable energy target of 200% by 2040, the Tasmanian government has released the draft Renewable Energy Action Plan.

German production equipment provider Schmid and Saudi chemical group Sabic are planning to begin activities at a new factory in Saudi Arabia, with production being expected to begin in 2021.

Soluna Australia brings high-quality Chinese-made DLG batteries to the Australian residential, commercial and off-grid markets, but the trade isn’t one way: Australian-developed recycling technology will result in high-grade recycled cathode powders from batteries used in Australia being reincorporated in DLG manufacturing.