The Victorian government has launched a market search for what is to be the first large-scale renewable energy project to be developed under the resurrected State Electricity Commission that will invest an initial $1 billion towards delivering 4.5 GW of renewable energy capacity.

The New South Wales government has tapped the ACE Energy consortium as the “first ranked proponent” to fill the network operator role for Australia’s first coordinated renewable energy zone that will host at least 3 GW of solar, wind and storage capacity.

Australians will be able to charge their electric vehicles in more rural and regional locations with the federal government announcing it will partner with motoring group NRMA to build a ‘backbone’ nation-wide network of fast-charging sites on major highways across the country by 2025.

The Australian government’s green bank has identified small- to medium-sized renewable energy generation projects as a key focus, tripling its existing mandate with specialist fund manager Infradebt in a move designed to drive investment in the space which it said has traditionally suffered from a funding “gap”.

Solar and battery retailers in Victoria will have to abide by a new consumer protection standards after the state government announced it will mandate a new stronger code that builds on the previous guidelines and expands them to include new energy technology including electric vehicle chargers.

Construction of a 100 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system being built near Chinchilla in Queensland’s Western Downs region is now being finalised with CS Energy confirming that the last of the 80 Tesla Megapack units for the project have been delivered and installed.

A long-term power purchasing agreement utilising the 174 MW Wellington Solar Farm will deliver enough clean energy to allow the assets and facilities of two of Australia’s largest zoos to be powered by 100% renewable electricity seven years ahead of schedule.

The chair of a new think tank that is pushing for Australia to accelerate the rollout of renewables and become a global clean energy superpower believes the world’s shift towards green energy is a bigger opportunity for the nation than the resources boom.

Australia’s transition to renewables is gathering speed, but there’s a looming problem with storage. We will need much more long-duration storage to get us through the night, once coal and fossil gas exit the system.

Vena Energy has announced the commissioning of Taiwan’s largest PV project to date with the developer confirming the 272 MW E2 Solar Project, which it says will be capable of contributing up to 4% of the island nation’s total solar energy output annually, is now fully operational.