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.

Sydney-based commercial rooftop solar specialists Todae Solar opened one of Australia’s largest rooftop PV array at Charles Sturt University’s Wagga Wagga campus this week. The multi-rooftop system comes in at 1.77 MW and will provide “an immediate financial benefit” to CSU.

German renewables developer Wirsol claims to be the PV power plant market leader in Australia, achieving around 20% market share of projects currently under construction. It entered the market less than twelve months ago.

SMA is set to supply its central inverters and power plant controllers to more than 20 PV power plant projects in Australia. Today the inverter giant revealed that it has signed contracts to supply its Medium Voltage Power Station (MVPS) and the SMA Power Plant Controller to around 1.2 GW in projects.

Former Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) CEO Oliver Yates has joined the board of the Australian Solar and Energy Storage Council.

AGL is set to expand its blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer solar trading program. Initially launched as a trial in May, the scheme will be expanded first in Adelaide, although the number of households to which it will be made available in this second stage is yet to be determined.

UK-based asset manager Foresight Group claims to have assembled the largest asset fleet of utility scale solar in Australia. After having acquired four solar projects in Queensland and initiated one Victorian project in less than two years, the fund noted that it had moved quickly to “capitalise on the opportunities.”

Western Australian regional utility Horizon Power is rolling out a new program to incentivize consumers to reduce their consumption during peak hours. The higher fixed tariff may penalize solar homes; however, it does presents an opportunity for battery storage.

While known in the global solar sector as an Indian PV leader, if Adani Enterprises’ proposed Carmichael coal mine fails so too could the company. Analyst Tim Buckley says that if the coal mega project cannot be financed and has to be written off or sold cheaply, the company’s debt would be three times larger than the value of its assets.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $5 million to encourage international collaboration between Australian and international renewable energy researchers and professionals. The International Engagement Program (IEP) hopes to accelerate innovation and the commercialisation of home grown cleantech.