The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is one of five institutions confirmed to back Neoen’s South Australian 238.5 MW / 477 MWh Blyth Battery, further securing its 70 MW green power contract with BHP to supply the Olympic Dam mine site.

The NSW state government’s Rebate Swap for Solar program has attracted 2,700 households to the scheme, which it says will take $600 a year off energy bills. The energy, environment and climate change ministry announced the scheme’s progress this week.

The Silicon to Solar (Roadmap) study has found Australian PV supply chain manufacturing is viable and calls for immediate action to establish it as a strategic priority industry and set up a solar manufacturing taskforce.

Renewable energy supporters and unions were activated last weekend to attend simultaneous family events in Wollongong and Newcastle, NSW, Gippsland and Portland, Victoria, and Gladstone, Queensland in support of solar, wind, and large scale energy storage. The events stood in contrast to growing community resistance to renewables and electricity transmission projects.

Australia’s energy transition risks falling behind with a new report showing that the time required to plan, build and commission a large-scale solar farm is almost four years with the final stage of the process having blown out to six months or more.

Elgin Energy’s Glanmire solar farm and battery energy storage system planned for the New South Wales Central Tablelands region has been given the tick of approval by the state’s Independent Planning Commission – subject to “strict” conditions set in recognition of community concerns.

The City of Melbourne has partnered with Origin Zero to deliver three battery energy storage systems as part of its plan to establish a network of co-ordinated community batteries across the city to better manage the increasing penetration of rooftop solar and periods of peak demand on the network.

The company planning to build what would be the world’s biggest intercontinental solar generation and energy storage project in the Northern Territory has appointed new leadership to help lead the project’s domestic component.

Global clean energy major EDP Renewables has expanded its presence into Australia with the acquisition of Canberra-based solar and energy storage developer ITP Development in a deal that adds more than 1.5 GW of wind and solar projects to its portfolio.

Construction of the 850 MW / 1680 MWh Waratah Super Battery is well underway with developer Akaysha Energy announcing that the first of three high voltage transformers to be deployed as part of the project is due to arrive at the New South Wales site in the coming days.