Spanish energy and construction giant Acciona plans to massively expand its investment in Australian renewable projects over the next five years, following the new federal government’s pledge to upgrade national electricity transmission networks.

Interest and investment in heat pumps has surged in Europe, but in Australia the technology has struggled to find a serious foothold. Industrial heat pumps could reduce ‘hard to abate’ emissions here by 15 million tonnes per annum by 2050, according to new modelling from the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity though. Despite the potential, dodgy technology suppliers and schemes gone awry have left a bad taste in Australia’s mouth, CEO Jarrod Leak tells pv magazine Australia.

As Australia seeks to move beyond its global quarry status, the country’s first Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant launched on Monday in Western Australia’s Curtin University.

Solar installers operating in Western Australia’s South West claim recent changes made by the sole network operator, Western Power, are forcing them into a no-win situation of either operating ‘unethically’ or haemorrhaging customers. And for regional customers, the changes mean installing a renewable system will likely see their household unable run basic household appliances without constantly tripping the power.

ARENA today announced 12 projects with a combined capacity of 3 GW are on the shortlist for its $100 million Large Scale Battery Storage Round which aims to support to rollout of storage fitted with grid forming capacities.

Winter has proven no feat for the sunshine state, which is home to basically all of Australia’s best performing PV assets, senior Rystad analyst David Dixon finds.

Rooftop solar systems are cheaper then centralised ground mounted systems for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, a new report funded by ARENA and APVI has found. The report, however, did not examine the question of community benefit in its scope – something Alan Langworthy, who has long worked in energy in the NT, told pv magazine Australia is absolutely vital.

Australia’s largest EV charging network, Chargefox, has been fully acquired by Australia’s motoring clubs via their company Australian Motoring Services.

Australian company AspiraDAC, which uses solar powered Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere, has been selected to be part of the first round of purchases from Frontier, a program backed by Facebook and Google’s parent companies, Meta and Alphabet.

Queensland regional airline Skytrans Airlines and engineering firm Stralis Aircraft plan to develop and trial a hydrogen electric propulsion aircraft by 2026.