The Victorian government has today announced it will put $5 million towards installing fast-charging stations across the state and $3 million in new charging infrastructure grants for local council and business fleets. The government also simplified access to its $3,000 electric vehicle subsidy, saying the program has led to a 200% sales increase in the last six months.

Simply Energy on Thursday announced it will be extending its Virtual Power Plant program across the eastern seaboard and opening it up to five different battery brands. Simply Energy will continue its technology partnership with SwitchDin to do so, with Ryan Wavish, Simply’s General Manager, and Andrew Mears, CEO and founder of SwitchDin, telling pv magazine Australia they plan to introduce a whole range of new, more advanced features into the VPP as the relationship between the two companies evolves.

Western Australia has today announced the launch of its $35.5 million Virtual Power Plant trial, Project Symphony, which will examine the ways in which residents, utilities, and network operators can join forces to centrally orchestrate the output of rooftop solar, batteries and other distributed resources to best serve both customers and the grid at large.

Melbourne-based company Green Peak Energy has attracted the backing of one of the world’s largest investment firms, CBRE Investment Management. While deal’s details remain confidential, the Australian company, which focuses on operating renewable systems in the C&I segment and providing power purchasing agreements (PPAs), described the agreement as an endorsement of the problem it set out to solve.

German company sonnen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell, today launched a new residential battery storage system specifically developed for Australia and New Zealand. Chief Commercial Officer of sonnenGroup and Managing Director of sonnen Australia, Nathan Dunn, told pv magazine Australia its sonnenBatterie Evo is the culmination of a new approach and may go on to inform how its future products for global markets are developed.

Western Australia has become the second state to give network operators the capacity to remotely switch off residential solar systems as an emergency grid stability mechanism.

AGL has “broken ground” at Torrens Island power station in preparation for the construction of its 250 MW/250 MWh battery which has drawn interest for being the largest planned grid-forming battery in the world.

Geelong Port, one of Australia’s major ports southwest of Melbourne, today announced it will invest $100 million to establish a hydrogen hub in partnership with biomass gasification outfit CAC-H2.

As Australia, like much of the world, battles shortfalls in supply with solar module prices rising and Chinese companies’ stocks decreasing, the country’s only manufacturer, Tindo Solar, has opted to release emergency stocks. Likewise, Chinese giant Longi is working to guarantee supply for Australia, saying its vertical integration has afforded it extra security.

Queensland continues to attract massive hydrogen industry factories, with LAVO Hydrogen Technology today announcing it would establish a fuel cell manufacturing facility just south of Brisbane.