Tesla to build first European gigafactory in Germany
Elon Musk has promised a fab near Berlin that will help create up to 10,000 new jobs. Tesla wants to build the facility near the city’s controversial new BER airport.
WA retraining electricity workers for standalone system expansion
The Western Australian government is looking to retrain 100 electricity network workers in the installation and maintenance of standalone power systems. Solar and storage systems could replace large parts of the state’s electricity network and WA’s utilities are looking to reskill its workforce for the transition.
Redflow to supply remote telecommunication sites in New Zealand
The New Zealand Rural Connectivity Group will use Redflow zinc-bromine flow batteries to store energy in off-grid telecommunication sites.
Moixa reaches 100 MWh of virtual power plant capacity in Japan
The company says its network is the largest fleet of batteries under virtual power plant management worldwide.
Distributed storage market to grow nearly twentyfold by 2028
Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions for now.
South Australia set for large-scale, blockchain-enabled virtual power plant
Known for its blockchain-based peer-to-peer platform that allows energy trading between households, Power Ledger is now readying for the first large-scale commercial rollout of its technology in Australia. The Perth-based company has partnered with electricity wholesaler Powerclub to allow households to pool net solar and battery storage and act as a virtual power plant.
Tuvalu granted $6m for renewables ambition
The Asian Development Bank has signed off a grant for the South Pacific island nation to move on its plans to be 100% renewable by 2025.
Scientists double down on hydrogen production
A team of scientists led by the University of Glasgow has discovered a more efficient method of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity which it says could almost double the amount of hydrogen produced per millivolt.
French consortium develops hybrid storage and co-generation system
The Smart Energy Hub can operate in electrolysis mode to store renewable energy as hydrogen, or in fuel cell mode to produce electricity and heat from previously produced hydrogen or methane. Its developers are the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and start-up Sylfen.
AEMO publishes indicative MLFs for 2020-21
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) expects to see further declines in Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs) next financial year on a number of grid-scale PV projects, primarily in south-west News South Wales and north-west Victoria.
