Canadian clean energy company Amp Energy has secured a lease agreement with Indigenous landowners to develop a solar farm and storage system in Whyalla, South Australia. The project is one of three sites which make up the company’s proposed Renewable Energy Hub of South Australia, announced in May.

Australia’s solar uptake is now forecast to reach 8.9 GW by 2025, on top of the 14 GW already installed, according to the Australian Electricity Market Operator.

The Energy Security Board’s market reforms have come under fresh scrutiny after ministers met last week under a veil of secrecy, apparently stirring deep rifts between federal and state ministers and other stakeholders. While it remains unclear what the Board’s proposed capacity market, dubbed by some as ‘coal-keeper’, might look like, Dan Cass, who leads energy policy at the Australia Institute, told pv magazine Australia as long as Angus Taylor isn’t steering, he’s optimistic that state governments and the ESB could work towards a reasonable outcome.

Australian electricity network owner Spark Infrastructure has accepted a $5.2 billion takeover bid from a North American consortium led by private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

For the first time in the history of our national energy market, solar generated more electricity than coal, providing 41.4% of the national market on Sunday, while coal accounted for 41.2%.

Two hydrogen platforms have launched in Australia to connect hydrogen producers with consumers, ultimately trying to catalyse projects and the industry more broadly. The first, NERA’s HyCapability, maps hydrogen capability across Australia, while the other focuses on New South Wales and the developments of its hydrogen hubs.

The comparison of two solar cladded roofs in Sydney, one bare beneath its panels and the other adorned with native grasses and plants, has found the panels on the green roof were, on average, 3.63% more efficient, producing an average daily output 13% greater than the conventional roof. The improvements are believed to stem from the lower temperatures on the green roof, thanks to its plants – which also provided a plethora of additional benefits.

In a campaign style speech, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, founder of Fortescue Metals and one of Australia’s richest men, outlined his ambition of producing mammoth quantities of green hydrogen, a task he sees as imperative to stop the “planet cooking” while also cornering a market he believes will soon be worth trillions.

President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, says renewables industries have fallen short in their treatment of workers and urgently need to do more to provide quality jobs which are secure and fairly paid.

Solar as a solution to poverty – it’s the route Brisbane-based charity SolarBuddy is taking, bringing Australian school children with it. Crucially though, the charity’s founder Simon Doble told pv magazine Australia it’s also a unique opportunity to learn about the rollout of clean technologies unencumbered.