The tender was part of a raft of announcements, including confirmation of a commitment to source 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. Queensland is fast emerging as a large scale solar hotspot, with hundreds of megawatts either having reached financial close or currently under construction.

Record crowds have been attracted to this year’s All Energy Australia trade show and conference, currently underway at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. With the country’s rooftop market set to exceed 1 GW in 2017, the battery storage sector burgeoning, and strong growth being shown in the utility scale segment, policy uncertainty prevails beyond 2020.

The Federal Government will provide $28.6 million for a demand response trial, in partnership with the New South Wales State Government, to help meet electricity demand peaks this summer. The announcement has been made as it becomes increasingly likely that the government will abandon any form of Clean Energy Target.

Victoria’s Energy Minister Liliana D’Ambrosio took a packed house of All Energy 2017 attendees through the state government’s approach to renewables, energy efficiency, storage and energy innovation as Australia’s largest PV show got underway today. She also mapped out the timeline for the Victoria’s long-awaited large-scale auction.

The highest rooftop penetration rates globally have not discouraged optimizer and inverter supplier SolarEdge from continuing to push hard into the Australian PV marketplace. Describing the market as “mature” and featuring “deep and rich sales models”, SolarEdge Founder Lior Handlesman said there are still plenty of rooftops to which solar can be added, in particular in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment.

The former APAC head of DNV GL’s solar consultancy has fired a departing shot before leaving to take on a new posting – continued investment will likely remain dependent on clear and stable public policy settings.

German battery suppliers are pushing strongly into the Australian market as households turn to solar+storage to combat high and rising electricity prices. However, installer capacity may prove a short-term bottleneck.