Distributed Storage

The University of Queensland (UQ) is well known for its renewable solar power generation, from its Warwick Solar Farm to the extensive solar PV arrays on UQ campuses. Now UQ can store its solar power too, with one of Queensland’s largest behind-the-meter battery storage systems.

To fill the gap left by retiring coal-fired plants, the Australian Energy Market Operator forecasts that Australia should invest in a further 30-47 GW of new large-scale wind and solar projects by 2040. At the end of the outlook period, AEMO projects that distributed energy resources could provide up to 13% to 22% of total underlying annual NEM energy consumption.

The first commercial shipment of China-made Soluna batteries has reached the Australian shores. The new battery brand will be sold locally by a joint venture between Lithium Australia and China’s DLG Group.

The Chinese manufacturer has also announced plans for a tenfold production capacity increase, as it wants to cater to all project sizes with two versions of its high-voltage storage system.

All of the winemaker’s Australian sites are now using renewable electricity thanks to the completion of the nation’s largest combined winery solar installation and a 10-year power purchase agreement to source renewable electricity.

A recent survey commissioned by Redback Technologies has found that almost a third of Australians lack understanding of solar, another barrier to the adoption by Australians of integrated solar and battery systems. pv magazine Australia sat down with Redback Technologies CEO Patrick Matweew to discuss.

Residents of Stockland homes will be able to get a discount on their rooftop solar and batteries thanks to a new national scheme recently launched by the property developer.

Evergen is looking to boost its growth in Australia and expand overseas as it opens a major capital raising campaign to private and wholesale investors on VentureCrowd.

Under the business-as-usual scenario, Western Australia could use up its Paris-Agreement 1.5°C compatible carbon budget within 12 years but a massive ramping up of renewable energy capacity would unlock significant economic opportunities for the state, finds a report by Berlin-based science and policy institute Climate Analytics.

The coastal town of Onslow in the Pilbara has had its much-anticipated standalone solar farm and battery completed this week, making it one of Australia’s largest distributed energy resource microgrids.