Looking back on an unprecedented year for Australia’s renewables sector, when it was never far from mainstream headlines, 2017 may very well be the watershed year for the industry. And it is the states, rather than the federal government, which have taken the lead.

South Australia’s water utility will install a trial floating PV array on its Happy Valley Reservoir. The 100 kW system will be installed in 2018 and is a part of the utility’s plans, announced today, to reduce its net electricity costs to zero by 2020.

The Australian Greens are continuing their advocacy for a RET extension and expansion beyond 2020, on the back of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) finding that renewables are driving down electricity prices. In its latest report on electricity prices, AEMC has found that much of 2017’s 11% residential price increases will be “reversed” as around 4 GW of renewables come online – driven by the RET.

In what it claims is Australia’s largest single rootop PV array, Australia Post has added 2.1 MW of PV to its Sydney Parcel Facility in Chullora.

After agreeing to provide debt finance to two Wirsol projects with a combined capacity of 200 MW, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has achieved the milestone of having funded 1 GW of large scale solar projects. The two loans to Wirsol allow construction of the projects to get underway before PPAs have been signed.

Independent oil and gas producer Woodside will deploy a battery and microgrid solution on one of its offshore gas platforms. The system is planned to reduce the facility’s gas consumption for electricity supply and its O&M costs.

A major milestone was surpassed in the Australian PV market last month, indicating that the rooftop solar sector is in robust health. However, not tracked in the figures underlying the record are large commercial rooftops and distributed battery storage, and reports are that here too strong growth is being achieved.

The not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association (ATA) has launched a free service through which homeowners looking to install a solar+storage system can get information on how to best size their system.

Enphase has entered the Indian PV market, supplying 2,858 of its microinverters to a 1 MW commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop project nearby to the city of Bangalore. The rooftop project sprawls over six roofs of an agriculture product processing facility.

What is being touted as Australia’s largest merchant PV power plant has signed grid connection and electricity transfer agreements with WA’s state-owned grid operator Western Power. Construction on the two-phase 128 MW(dc) project, to be located around 160km east of Perth, is set to get underway in early 2018.