Highlights

Over the last two years, corporate renewable power purchase agreements have become a major force in Australia’s large-scale renewable energy market. In hard figures, 70 leading Australian organizations have made the switch to renewable energy and procured nearly 2.3 GW of mostly solar and wind electricity and supported 5.2 GW of projects, finds the Business Renewables Centre of Australia.

The capacity of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve is being expanded by 50%, through the addition of 50MW/64.5 MWh of Tesla batteries. Having attracted an $8 million ARENA grant, $15 million in state funding, and $50 million in project financing from the CEFC, owner Neoen expects the $71 million battery expansion and upgrade project to be completed by mid 2020.

Recent analysis from Wood Mackenzie predicts green hydrogen, produced primarily by solar electrolysis, will reach cost parity in Australia, Germany and Japan by 2030.

The Australian Energy Market Commission’s proposed transmission access model has come under fierce criticism from the clean energy industry for being unnecessarily complex and likely to increase the cost of capital for future generation and storage investment.

As more and more shopping centres across Australia start to utilise solar PV atop their premises, carparks are becoming increasingly popular amid a lack of rooftop space. A solar array covering three double-parking bays at Dunsborough Centrepoint Shopping Centre will not only offer shade for shoppers but also almost completely cover the site’s daytime energy needs.

Chinese module giant Jinko Solar chose Australia for the launch of its Tiger module series, at the All-Energy show in late October. The Tiger incorporates three innovations, but perhaps most notably a tiled module configuration – sometimes referred to as paved. pv magazine Australia caught up with Jeff Zhou, Jinko’s Director Product Management to find out what makes it purr.

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.

Engie is readying a massive renewable investment fund as it looks to develop 2,000 MW of renewables in Australia over the next ten years. The move signals defiance at the retreat of renewable investment in the face of a federal energy policy vacuum.

It may come as a volt from the blue, but solar PV still has enormous unexplored potential. With the help of a globally renowned startup accelerator, a team from UNSW’s famous photovoltaics division is taking solar generation out of the ‘burbs and into the urban jungle.

The latest figures released by BloombergNEF show new solar and onshore wind power plants have reached parity with average wholesale prices in California, China and parts of Europe. The technologies are winning the race to be the cheapest sources of new generation for two-thirds of the world’s population.