Highlights

A grant of nearly $1 million has been announced for a 100% renewable energy project which will see the World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest reduce its reliance on diesel fuel to generate power.

New research by UNSW examines the economic barriers, the technologies and opportunities in recycling end-of-life silicon photovoltaic modules for profit.

Outgoing APA Group CEO Mick McCormack has pointed to a bright future for power-to-gas in Australia in an address to a Macquarie Group conference this week. The long-serving gas infrastructure head said that excess PV generation, particularly when generation is at remote sections of the grid, could be utilised to produce green hydrogen. 

Federal Labor has pledged to roll out solar PV and batteries at schools across Australia and create virtual power plants supporting up to 365 MW of capacity.

As part of its Future Mines and Jobs Plan, Labor has pledged to revive the Exploring for the Future funding and invest $75 million in developing the future mining of resources such as lithium. If elected in the upcoming federal election, the party will also make the south-west of Western Australia a renewable energy zone, meaning the region will be able to access funding through the party’s planned $5 billion Energy Security and Modernisation Fund.

Long-term power purchase agreements in Australia are helping large-scale energy consumers reduce costs and green their energy supply, but for smaller or more conservative businesses that have found the PPA landscape hard to navigate ERM Power is introducing a more flexible, short-term option to the market.

Due to a jump in medium (+15kW) to large (+100kW) rooftop solar installations, there has been a dramatic increase in grid scale solar generation. This has contributed to renewables supplying monthly 14-15% of total generation since last November, an increase from 10-11% share this time last year, new research from The Australia Institute finds.

The first virtual power plant to be announced since the last year’s launch of the Home Battery Scheme in South Australia is picking up the pace with the addition of Eguana Technologies’ Evolve to the list of eligible energy storage systems.

A total of 238,000 advanced meters will be installed by Western Power on the South West Interconnected System over the next three years, unlocking the benefits of the technology that gives consumers more control over their energy use. In another rollout, Horizon Power has made paying for power easier for 11 Aboriginal communities across regional WA.

Thirteen of Victoria’s water corporations have partnered to buy clean energy from the Kiamal Solar Farm in north-west Victoria, at a much cheaper rate than would be possible individually.