Ark Energy’s 275 MW/2,200 MWh lithium-iron phosphate battery to be built in northern New South Wales has been announced as one of the successful projects in the third tender conducted under the state government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The Richmond Valley Battery Energy Storage System will likely be the biggest eight-hour lithium battery in the world when it is completed.

Renewable energy retailer SmartestEnergy Australia and Enel Green Power Australia have signed a long-term offtake agreement for the 93 MW Girgarre Solar Farm being developed in central Victoria.

Electric vehicle charging in Australia and New Zealand has been given a boost with fund manager Pacific Equity Partners acquiring a majority stake in Australian electric vehicle charging solutions provider EVSE to the tune of $250 million (USD 167 million). The partnership also involves PEP-backed smart metering specialist Intellihub.

The Capacity Investment Scheme South Australia-Victoria tender is now open for bids. Renewable energy storage projects must be located in either of the states and have a minimum storage duration of two hours and a minimum size of 30 MW.

One of Australia’s largest property developers has joined forces with Energy Bay, which specialises in distributed renewable energy solutions for property landlords. Energy Bay is making it possible for Stockland to utilise the energy produced at its properties with large rooftops and low energy use, such as its warehouses, to provide extra energy for its high-energy use properties.

Redback Technologies has announced inverters certified as compliant with Queensland’s dynamic connections for energy exports. This enables homeowners to export energy back into the grid at a flexible rate so that energy output is only limited in roughly 2% of the time when excess power from PV installations would overwhelm the grid.

The Queensland government has announced that state-owned CleanCo is now providing Coles stores with renewable energy for 95% of its electricity needs in Queensland.

The largest shopping centre solar and battery project in Australia is now producing energy. In Sydney’s south-west airport corridor Narellan Town Centre has just completed the first stage of its solar and battery microgrid.

The Western Australian government has just allocated $220 million to support Griffin coal mine, so operations may continue until June 2026. The funding was announced by Premier Roger Cook and the Minister for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Bill Johnston, who earlier announced he is stepping down from cabinet last week.

Brisbane-based electric vehicle charging company Tritium has been involved in a whirlwind of activity this week as it fends off being thrown off Nasdaq, sets about closing its manufacturing in Brisbane and courts new investors. Tritium has pioneered standards in fast charging not only for electric cars but also solutions for trucks and speciality vehicles. Chargers from Tritium went into operation today for container tractors at the Port of Long Beach, California.