Community opposition to renewable projects tends to be dismissed as NIMBY-ism, an attitude of not-in-my-back-yard. To do so fails to recognise the character and potential claws of the globally growing movement, as well as the renewable sectors’ own role in rearing resentments. Australian reporter Bella Peacock investigates the emotional thread that ties the particularities of opposition movements together, and ways developers can defuse the charge.

A South Australian racecourse has now become a fully operational DC-coupled solar and battery farm. The Berri Energy Project, owned by retailer Flow Power, is part of the company’s strategy to build up to 50 MW of mid-scale (sub 5 MW) projects to supplement its offtake portfolio, Flow Power COO Byron Serjeanston told pv magazine Australia.

Virtual Power Plants, or VPPs, are relatively mature in Australia due to the country’s high penetration of, and familiarity with, distributed energy resources. But claims of VPP success and participation may be overblown, with a considerable gaps between the numbers some platforms are claiming and the realms of possibility.

Western Australia will now offer rural and metro-area residents in its main grid the same electricity supply. The move comes after a seemingly innocuous rule change saw regional customers unable to run their air conditioning at the same time as their cooktops – a drama pv magazine Australia first reported in July 2022 which led to sustained community pressure.

Canadian giant Brookfield, which is currently in the process of formally acquiring Origin Energy, has announced its partnership with little-known developer Greenleaf Renewables. The partnership, Brookfield said, will contribute to the 14 GW of renewable generation and storage it plans to build to decarbonise Origin.

Australia’s lithium and base metals like nickel, aluminium and copper are forecast to earn around $47 billion (USD 31.8 billion) in the current financial year, according to the Australian government’s latest forecasts.

Brisbane company Li-S Energy has developed its third-generation semi-solid state lithium sulfur battery cells. The 20-layer cells, produced in its facility in Victoria, are lightweight and energy dense, reaching over 400 Wh/kg.

The New South Wale government’s competitive tender for 380 MW of ‘firming’ battery capacity has now opened.

ARENA has opened the first application round for the government’s national community battery program, allocating $120 million (USD 81 million) to be split equally between networks and other applicants. The program was last week accused of rorting, with independent politicians revealing the locations for a proportion of the promised batteries were selected by the Labor party alone and not based on merit or need.

With many of the top choice land parcels for renewable development now taken, the question of where to put new projects in Australia is growing troublesome. Australian company Rela thinks it has a novel solution – one which rests on levelling the knowledge playing field between landowners and developers. “If the counter party is your sole source of knowledge about this whole [renewable] ecosystem, of course you’re hesitant,” director Michael Katz tells pv magazine Australia.