Australia will need a 40% increase in workers in building and engineering trades by 2050 to enable the energy transition, a new report from the Australian government says.

Fortescue has become a “lead investor” in, and signed a 1 GW supply deal with, US-startup Electric Hydrogen, or EH2. Fortescue, which is pursuing both green hydrogen projects and electrolyser manufacturing, says EH2’s systems produce hydrogen at “transformational” low cost.

Renewables player Octopus Investments Australia, a subsidiary of UK-based Octopus Group, has purchased Queensland’s largest battery project, the 500 MW / 1 GWh Blackstone project just outside of Brisbane.

Solar payback periods worsened in Australia between 2020 and 2022, but have now turned a corner, data from analyst Sunwiz illustrates. Queensland has seen the most remarkable journey, with payback periods for residential solar and storage falling from 10 to 6.6 years within 12 months.

Western Australian solar window company ClearVue Technologies has completed third-party testing with the Singapore Building and Construction Authority, saying the results illustrate strong thermal and energy outcomes.

A package of major regulatory and market reforms designed to support Western Australia’s energy transformation have gone live. The changes relate to the state’s main islanded grid, known as the SWIS.

Developer Edify Energy has had its 600 MW Smoky Creek solar farm in Central Queensland approved by the federal government.

The 204 MW Edenvale Solar Park near Chinchilla, in the Western Downs region of Queensland, has officially been opened by joint owners Eneos, Japan’s biggest oil refiner, and Sojitz, a Tokyo-based trading house. According to the pair, Edenvale is the largest solar project in Australia to be undertaken by Japanese companies.

The “first sod” has been turned in the construction of the 93 MW Girgarre Solar Farm in Victoria. The project, initially developed by Peter Leeson, is an interesting case study in community engagement.

Australia’s solar market and pricing has been shaken up in recent months with the entrance of Tongwei Solar. Compounding this is the global free fall in panel pricing, which solar analyst Warwick Johnston says is yet to properly hit Australia. “There’s super cheap panels that are coming through and everyone will have to adjust their prices accordingly,” he says.