Transport and logistics operator Centurion has reached a major milestone in its electrification journey with a new electric truck charging site powered by a 2.2 MW rooftop solar system and a 3.44 MWh battery energy storage system now active at its depot in Perth’s eastern suburbs.

As the electrification of transport and heating accelerates, many worry the increased demand could overload national power grids. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050.

Swedish renewable energy developer OX2 has presented a large-scale solar farm and battery project planned for a former north Queensland sugarcane farm to the Australian government for environmental approval.

Melbourne-headquartered infrastructure and energy investment firm Kai Global and South Korea’s Wide Creek Asset Management have launched a $500 million joint venture dedicated to solar and battery energy storage projects in Australia.

The Australian government has announced it will open four new Capacity Investment Scheme tenders before the end of the year as it seeks to deliver on its objective of introducing 32 GW of new variable renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.

Mining colossus Hancock Iron Ore has become the latest resources major to turn to solar and battery storage to improve economics, unveiling three hybrid solar and battery storage systems that are helping power dewatering facilities at its operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The role of solar PV in Indonesia will extend beyond replacing coal-based electricity generation; it will also include the production of e-fuels for hard-to-abate segments, offering an alternative to land-intensive biofuel production. A recent study explores, through various scenarios, the cost-competitiveness of solar PV-based electrification in supporting Indonesia’s renewable energy transition.

Topping the agenda for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to China this week has been the massive bilateral opportunity for Australia – the world’s No.1 producer of iron ore, with a 56% share of global exports – to partner with China on developing green iron and steel produced using zero-emissions energy. Traditional practices use coking coal, a carbon intensive, high-emissions fossil fuel, to produce iron from ore, a key step in steelmaking.

ClearVue Technologies says its solar facade solutions, that combine the company’s solar glazing units into a fully integrated energy generating building envelope, have achieved a payback period of less than three years in a Hong Kong government trial.

Printed solar technology startup Kardinia Energy, photoluminescence imaging specialist BT Imaging, and modular solar array manufacturer 5B are among 13 companies awarded more than $26 million in funding by the New South Wales government to support the commercial development of their clean energy tech.