Australian mining and energy giant Fortescue announced last week that its ambitious green energy goal – to produce 15 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually by 2030 – will be placed on hold.

Before renewables came along, coal-fired power stations pumped out electricity (and carbon emissions) 24 hours a day. But now, this type of “always on” baseload power is no longer necessary or commercially viable.

Some nuclear fans claim Australia’s national science agency has a position on the country’s energy mix. CSIRO Chief Executive Doug Hilton writes that is both wrong and a fundamental misinterpretation of the GenCost report.

Small collections of electricity generators, or microgrids, have long been used in disaster recovery, when network supply falters during bushfires or cyclones. But now the technology is being used to provide secure, 24-7 supplies of clean energy in Australian communities where connection to the main electricity grid is but a pipedream.

The majority of global companies have set ambitious public targets to reach net zero, but internally many believe there is insufficient effort being made to transform talk of decarbonisation to reality. The team at consulting firm Partners in Performance recently surveyed ~100 senior leaders at global companies to assess the efficacy of their emissions reduction programs.

Zenith Energy will build, own and operate a hybrid power station including a 7 MW solar farm and 12 MWh battery energy storage system that will help power operations at Lynas Rare Earths’ Mount Weld mine site in Western Australia

The way has been cleared for construction to begin on a 250 MW / 500 MWh battery energy storage system that will help “future proof” the Australian Capital Territory’s energy supply by reducing the load on Canberra’s electricity network and increasing network reliability.

Electricity and gas provider Alinta Energy has received the tick of approval from the Western Australian government to begin construction of a second battery energy storage facility at Wagerup in the state’s southwest.

The World Trade Organisation Secretariat has criticised China for an alleged lack of transparency in its state support framework and has urged the nation to improve its subsidy notification process.

Inverter manufacturer Fimer has launched a process to sell itself to new owners. Interested investors have until August 31 to submit offers.

Western Australia clean energy developer Frontier Energy has been granted $215 million in debt finance for its Waroona Renewable Energy Project south of Perth, from specialist infrastructure fund Infradebt.

Victorian transmission infrastructure operator VicGrid has identified over half the state as having potential to host future renewable energy developments, as outlined in its draft Victorian Transmission Plan guidelines.

The owner of a 360 MW solar farm and 600 MWh battery energy storage project being developed near Mortlake in southwest Victoria said it has received grid connection approval that paves the way for the next stage of development.

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

Renewable energy solutions provider Smart Commercial Solar has unveiled a “ground-breaking” hybrid microgrid that combines 3.98 MW of PV, 4.4 MWh of battery energy storage and an 11 kV private distribution network to help power a large-scale poultry farm in southwest New South Wales.

The Australian arm of Philippines-based energy company Acen Corporation has launched the approvals process for a major grid-connected solar and battery energy storage project to be built near the town of Cooma in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains region.

United Kingdom–based technology company Sunswap has launched Endurance, an electric transport refrigeration system with integrated battery and solar PV. It is built to compete with diesel-powered systems.

Larger wafer and module sizes have had a profound influence on module power output in recent years but standardisation appears to have taken hold, with no further increases evident in module data, according to Molly Morgan, a senior research analyst at Exawatt, which is now part of the CRU Group.

Australian software developer PV Lighthouse has secured almost $2 million in federal to drive the continued development of its SunSolve Yield advanced simulation engine that is designed to improve yield forecasting for utility-scale solar projects.

A German research team is conducting practical tests to see how solar modules with integrated radio technology can be linked to form an overall network. The “communicative” panels should represent a simple and cost-effective solution for monitoring and controlling small-scale photovoltaic systems.

Singfilm Solar said the result has been certified by China’s National PV Industry Measurement and Testing Center.

The IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme’s (IEA-PVPS) latest report on solar panel recycling offers a comprehensive review of all existing technologies in this market segment, from pure mechanical recycling to innovative techniques such as light pulse treatment, water-jet cleaning, pyrolysis, and chemical treatments.

The Clean Energy Council looks set to be reappointed as the product listing body responsible for maintaining and publishing lists of approved solar panels and inverters eligible for use in Australia’s solar rebate program.

Longi says it expects a net loss of CNY 4.8 billion ($980 million) for the first half of 2024, while Tongwei is bracing for a CNY 3 billion loss. Aiko Solar and TCL Zhonghuan, meanwhile, are predicting losses of CNY 2.9 billion and CNY 1.4 billion, respectively.

Chinese electronics manufacturer Anker has developed a new all-in-one home storage solution with up to 30 kWh of capacity, available in single-phase and three-phase configurations.

The Koorangie battery energy storage system being constructed in northwest Victoria has achieved a major milestone with the delivery of 100 Tesla Megapacks with grid-forming inverters that operate in virtual machine mode.

Western Australia has locked in federal government funding to build a minimum 6.5 TWh of large-scale solar and wind projects and 1.1 GW of new storage to help ensure the electricity grid remains stable as the state continues its renewable energy transition.

A NSW government program is being rolled out for business and local councils that buy over 1 GWh of electricity per year to explain how to procure clean energy from the state’s renewable energy zones using power purchase agreements.

Plans to build another grid-scale four-hour capacity battery energy storage system near the central Queensland town of Gladstone have been submitted to the local council as developer Akaysha Energy continues build up an impressive portfolio of battery storage projects.

Renewable energy company Enel Green Power Australia has bought the proposed 1 GW Tallawang solar and battery energy storage project being developed in western New South Wales from British-based global energy company Renewable Energy Systems.