Utility Scale Storage

Tasmania has committed to being 100% renewable by 2022 and remains well on track to meet this target ahead of schedule. But the island state says it is well placed to set a more ambitious goal, which would see it double its renewable production and help mainland Australia reduce its emissions.

The developer has confirmed a nearly $30 million write-down on its troubled Kennedy Energy Park and entered into a binding agreement on a $1 a share takeover bid from a consortium that includes Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Squadron Energy.

The Tasmanian Government has announced a $50 million investment package toward its green hydrogen ambitions over the next 10 years.

You’ll recall that in 2019, an Australian National University Study identified 22,000 potential pumped-hydro energy storage sites across Australia. Altura Group, is proposing development of three east-coast sites that are also close to strong transmission connections, abundant renewable resources and load centres.

The ARC Research Hub for Integrated Energy Storage Solutions has a broad research mandate as it looks for innovative energy storage solutions for the energy transition, but some of the nation’s finest minds are now working on them together.

Australia’s biggest power producer AGL and copper miner Hillgrove Resources have agreed to abandon the ambitious pumped hydro project at an old mine pit in South Australia. No longer bound by the project restriction, the owner intends to step up mining and drilling activities at the site.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has approved the construction of a large-scale solar PV and battery energy storage system for its Koodaideri mine in Western Australia. When completed, the solar plant will be in the running for Australia’s largest PV installation at a mining site.

The Victorian government has decided to break away from national electricity rules and introduce legislation that will fast-track priority projects like grid-scale batteries and transmission upgrades and make room for more large-scale solar and wind on the grid. The announced reforms have prompted a flurry of reactions.

Despite a massive drop in renewable energy investment seen last year, 2020 promises to bring both good and bad news for the Australian solar sector. While network conditions will continue to deteriorate, the low-carbon policy will become more supportive but also more chaotic.

In a bid to seek resolution of all disputed claims, Windlab has reached a standstill agreement with the EPC contractor on the Kennedy Energy Park, Australia’s first project on a major grid to combine wind, solar and battery technologies.