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The Australia Institute’s first emissions audit of 2019 shows renewables pushing coal aside to reduce Australia’s emissions 20% below the peak recorded in 2008; and the load that January’s high temperatures would normally exert on the grid has been mitigated by high uptake of rooftop solar.

The opening of SolarShare’s Mount Majura Solar Farm to investors this week represents a significant milestone in the community-energy sector in Australia, says Nicky Ison, founding Director of the Community Power Agency. “It is the first community solar farm in Australia that is grid connected in front of the meter,” she says, and at 1 MW capacity it will also be the country’s biggest community-owned solar farm.

Melbourne University’s Energy Transition Hub has released an update on its popular OpenNEM data tool, adding historical data to the searchable stream of information on where Australia’s energy is coming from, how we use it and what it costs.

The Andrews Labor government is investing $2 million to boost the development of clean hydrogen energy technologies, and $1.1 million to support renewable energy projects in local communities across Victoria.

If maintained, Australia’s current rate of installs would deliver 78% renewables by 2030, find Green Energy Markets in its latest edition of RE Index. The 50% renewables target proposed by the the Federal Labor Party and several state Labor governments would thus deliver a sharp market decline, with installations falling to a third of recent rates and workforce shrinking by three quarters.

The Newcastle City Council has begun construction on a 5 MW Summerhill solar farm located on a disused landfill that was once part of a coal mine.

The Victorian government has allocated another $2 million in funding for Australia’s renewables-powered electric vehicle ultrafast charging stations, as the first charging site was unveiled at Euroa.

A super-fast network being rolled out across Australia will allow drivers to charge their electric vehicles in just minutes, 15 times faster than typical domestic charging points which take hours. All the charging stations will be powered through the purchase of renewable energy or on-site solar.

If all planned renewable energy projects were to proceed, Queensland would be in line for a $24 billion injection into the state’s economy and over 35,000 new jobs, argues a new Solar Citizens report.

A combination of rooftop solar on campus buildings and a solar car-port will soon provide one-fifth of the electricity needed to power Flinders University.