Australia’s largest energy retailer AGL has blamed an “extremely challenging market” prompted in part by the ongoing penetration of renewables, including rooftop solar PV, after reporting a $2.06 billion full-year net loss.

The operators of Australia’s largest solar farm have turned to a software-based bidding solution as they seek to optimise dispatch and manage the facility’s market trading and power purchase commitments amid increasingly market volatility.

Queensland’s transition to a renewable energy future is set to progress with the state government calling for tenders for the proposed 1 GW Borumba Dam pumped hydro energy storage project while work on a nearby 176 MW solar farm has also reached a new milestone.

The CSIRO is pushing the limits of flexible solar PV cells, partnering with Australian start-up Space Machines Company to test the technology in space.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has retained a controversial two-way pricing mechanism in its finalised reforms package which has been designed to better integrate distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar PV, batteries and electric vehicles into the grid, and transform it into a “two-way super-highway where energy flows in both directions”.

Japan’s biggest oil refiner Eneos and French renewables developer Neoen have announced they will undertake a joint study looking at the potential development of an international supply chain for an affordable and stable supply of green hydrogen produced from renewable energy in South Australia.

The Australian Energy Market Operator is looking to fast-track the deployment of advanced inverter capabilities to support Australia’s “once-in-a-lifetime transition” to a power system featuring reduced synchronous generation, such as coal-fired generation.

The Australian arm of global fund manager Octopus Group has expanded its renewable energy portfolio, teaming with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to purchase the rights to develop two proposed utility scale solar-storage hybrid power plants in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales will look to improve the quality of advanced solar PV cells after the project secured a share of more than $1.5 million in the latest round of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Linkage Project Grants.

Australia’s rooftop solar PV market has emerged as the second largest generator by capacity in the nation with new data published by the Australian Energy Council showing that small-scale solar is overshadowed only by coal-fired generation.