A proposed 400 MW pumped hydro storage project is on track to become the first of its kind to be completed in Queensland in more three decades after industry giant GE Renewable Energy provided its backing for the project.

Vanadium flow battery specialist VSUN Energy is pushing ahead with plans to develop a Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) for the Australian residential market.

Information technology giant Fujitsu is the latest major company to commit its Australian operations to a renewable energy future, installing a 99.6 kW solar PV system on the roof of its data centre in Brisbane, Queensland.

South Australian utility SA Water is preparing to flick the switch on the “world’s largest” portable solar array with work having commenced on the installation of a 12 MW prefabricated PV system at the Happy Valley Reservoir near Adelaide.

Plans to build a large-scale solar farm at Harlin in Queensland’s Somerset Council region continue to gather momentum after Singaporean infrastructure investor Keppel Corporation agreed to pour more than $3 million into the project.

Australian property developer Stockland has teamed with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to launch a research project studying the effects of rooftop solar and associated battery storage on the liveability and affordability of the home.

Mining company Centennial Coal has received more than $5 million in government funding to investigate the feasibility of turning an old underground coal mine near Newcastle into a pumped hydro storage site which could supply 600 MW of renewable energy to the grid.

An award-winning Australian solar-powered ‘water battery’ has been lauded as an unmitigated success with figures from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) revealing the system generated more than 3 GWh of electricity in its first 12 months of operation.

Australian gold mining company Gold Road Resources will be relying on a ‘state-of-the-art’ renewable energy system as it continues operations at its Yamarna exploration camp about 1,200 kilometres east of Perth.

Australia has cemented its place at the vanguard of the solar energy industry with a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report confirming the nation has the highest installed solar PV capacity per capita in the world.