Highlights

Australia’s first Solar Asset Management conference to be held June 26-27 in Sydney recognises a new phase for the country’s large-scale solar sector, as well as the urgent need to drive efficiency from projects, both in the planning and the 25- to 35-year O&M life stages of each project.

Coming hot on the heels of major reports and a heated public debate about electric vehicles, a poll commissioned by the Climate Council confirms Australians believe electric cars are the future. Another poll, by The Australia Institute, has 50% of Australian voters supporting all car sales being electric by 2025.

In a major shift towards owning renewable energy generation assets, electricity network infrastructure owner Spark Infrastructure has fully acquired the 120 MW Bomen Solar Farm in NSW. The project has inked a power purchase agreement with Westpac, which marks a big step towards its goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

Australia’s biggest power producer has secured the right to develop, own and operate a massive pumped hydro energy storage project at Hillgrove Resources’ Kanmantoo copper mine in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills region.

Significant progress has been reported on the feasibility study which aims to progress the establishment of a 15 GWh lithium-ion battery factory in Townsville. The study is conducted by the Imperium3 Townsville consortium.

First-quarter data from Green Energy Markets shows double the uptake of small-scale rooftop solar on the same period last year as record numbers of residential and business consumers seek to reduce their electricity bills. The tendency for installations to increase toward year end suggests that more than 2 GW of solar will hit the rooftop tiles this year. How could this become a cautionary tale?

The University of New South Wales (UNSW), the birthplace of pioneering PV technologies, is now developing another innovative solution: a large-scale hybrid energy storage that will combine lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. The first system will be installed at Risen Energy’s 121 MW Yarranlea Solar Farm in Queensland.

Solpod today launches a potential game changer in commercial solar PV. Substantially funded by ARENA, supported by energy retailer, ERM Power, and trialling across 25 shopping centres and NSW Government sites, this innovation has the legs to go global.

The Australian supermarket giant is issuing green bonds to fund the development of low-carbon supermarkets and the installation of solar at its stores and distribution centres.

The Perth-based Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) will address industry-identified gaps in the battery industry value chain, support battery deployment and optimise the circular economy for battery recycling.