Covid-19

Spanish giant Iberdrola has broken ground on its 317 MW Port Augusta hybrid wind and solar farm, set to be the largest in Australia. The global energy company stressed its desire to increase its renewable presence in Australia on the day, betting on Australia’s potential for a green recovery from the economic strife of Covid-19.

The advance of PV has been lauded by the International Energy Agency as it launched the latest edition of a flagship World Energy Outlook 2020 report overshadowed by the Covid-19 crisis and uncertainty over how long the economic recovery could take.

Smart Energy is one of Australia’s most creative and fastest growing solar companies, largely thanks to a compassionate business plan which came into its own since the outbreak of covid-19. The various lockdowns and increased electricity bills have driven an accelerated uptick in residential solar and Smart Energy co-founder Elliot Haynes sat down with pv magazine Australia to talk about this unprecedented period.

With folks housebound by Covid-19 restrictions and more conscious of their home energy needs, April proved a banner month for companies generating digital leads through their own accelerated transition to a new way of working.

Sustainability-linked debt financing is experiencing ever increasing popularity and the success of green bonds has driven other products linked to social performance and other sustainability criteria. The total volume of such investments to date passed the $2 trillion point this year.

The Clean Energy Council has lambasted the Morrison Government’s Federal Budget 2020 as a missed opportunity for a widely popular renewable recovery effort. In fact, not only has the Morrison Government failed to fund Australia’s future, it has succeeded in funding the nation’s decaying past, including money for the controversial Vales Point coal-fired power station.

Doubling down on renewable energy investment and energy transition spending is required to ensure a truly green global recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and its economic aftershock, claims the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has signed a 10-year PPA with Ross Garnaut’s Zen Energy. The deal will see solar energy from the Nurmurkah Solar Farm and the Nevertire Solar Farm halve the agency’s emissions.

Honorary University of New South Wales Associate Professor, Mark Diesendorf, takes the Coalition’s Technology Roadmap apart, revealing just how unsealed the road really is, and why renewables pave the way.

South Australia’s new solar installation regulations came into effect on September 28. The regulations, designed to better manage a distributed energy system, are thought rushed by some in the industry, but ultimately they should facilitate more solar integration.