The new standards that underpin our renewable future
As new forms of renewable energy mature, strong standards governing safety, storage, transport and more help to build confidence in each industry sector. Here Daniel Chidgey, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Standards Australia outlines the latest guidance for hydrogen, energy storage and ocean energy.
Aussie parents pester PM to fund solar for every school and childhood centre
Australian Parents for Climate Action have proposed an initiative called Solar our Schools and published open letter to Prime Minister Morrison calling for large-scale federal investment in solar and energy storage for every school and early childhood centre as part of Covid-19 recovery.
Ah McCain…you’ve done it again! McCain to build Australia’s largest ‘behind-the-meter’ system
It’s crunch time for renewables and McCain Foods is chipping in with what is being called Australia’s largest ‘behind-the-meter’ renewable energy system at its production facility in Ballarat. The 8.2 MW system will feature 17, 000 solar panels and a co-generation technology feeding on scrap potato skins.
WA community battery rollout continues: Tesla battery launched in Margaret River
The highly successful Western Australian community battery rollout has caught another wave and poured another glass of fine Cab Sav with its newest launch in Margaret River. This particular installation is part of a five-year trial to identify even more prime locations for community energy storage.
Western Power delivers first community SPS
The Nowanup property is a keystone in south-west Western Australia’s biodiversity regeneration, and now, with the installation of a stand-alone power system (SPS) from Western Power, the spur of the line property is no longer subject to routine outages from storm and bushfire interruptions. With self-sufficiency, Curtin University can now expand its Bush Campus into the property to better facilitate Noongar education.
AEMC gives energy businesses extra three months breathing space before major market reform
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has decided to give energy businesses an extra three months to prepare the IT overhaul necessary for the five-minute settlement market reform. The decision comes in response to concerns that the unprecedented impacts of Covid-19 necessitated extra breathing space.
Natron Energy, developer of sodium-ion batteries, raises USD35M as investment in storage surges
The startup is building a battery using Prussian blue analogue electrodes and a sodium-ion electrolyte. Investors include ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, Volta Energy Technologies, Chevron, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures.
Study recommends developing ‘made-in-WA batteries’
A key lithium-ion battery cathode material could be produced in Western Australia, a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) feasibility study has found. The study, released by the WA state government today, investigated whether superior nickel-rich nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) can be produced cost effectively and sustainably in the state in which nine of the ten mineral elements required for lithium-ion battery cells are present.
Throw another prawn on the battery
Scientists led by MIT have suggested chitin, a carbon and nitrogen-rich material made from waste shrimp shells, could produce sustainable electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries and other energy storage technologies.
Deakin University set to steward new energy storage Research Hub
A New Safe and Reliable Energy Storage and Conversion Technologies Research Hub is one of five grant recipients of the Australian Research Council’s funding for Industrial Transformation. The Hub will seek to develop new technologies in energy storage to eliminate the risk of fire, as well as addressing the environmental impact of current technologies.
