Installations

The decarbonisation of Australia’s electricity grid continues with the Australian arm of global renewable energy developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures confirming the 115 MW Metz Solar Farm in New South Wales has achieved commercial operation status and is now generating at 100% of its capacity.

Australian battery minerals company Liontown Resources will install what is shaping to be the nation’s largest off-grid renewable energy hybrid power station at its $545 million Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia, allowing the mine to be powered by 100% on-site renewables during periods of high wind and solar resource.

Solar capacity in the United States is expected to grow from 129 GW today to 336 GW by 2027, according to the country’s Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm Wood Mackenzie.

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries continues its campaign to be one of the world’s largest clean energy companies, announcing plans to develop a 9.2 GW wind and solar facility in Egypt that will power green hydrogen production in the Arab republic.

Solar-wind hybrid plants are rapidly becoming mainstream, and in booming markets like India and the US these hybrids are increasingly preferred to singular projects despite the higher installation cost. There is no shortage to the benefits of hybridisation, from a smoother power output profile to the cost saving of grid connection. But getting the balance right for new projects and retrofits remains a challenge. Blake Matich reports on this growing trend.

A team of Australian scientists have developed a new way to produce hydrogen using water from the atmosphere. They claim their new module can ensure stable performance and provide green hydrogen for remote areas.

The International Energy Agency says that the deployment of 600 million heat pumps by 2030 could cover 20% of the annual heating requirements of buildings throughout the world.

Sharp’s newest PV modules feature white backsheets and are made for the needs of design-oriented customers.

Tasmanian farmers are set to turn to solar PV to cut energy costs with the state-owned irrigation authority announcing plans to install solar arrays at up to 13 existing pump station sites around the state, offsetting electricity usage and generating surplus power to be fed back into the grid.

A pilot program across Sydney’s suburbs is seeking to prove a model its proponents hope will afford low income Australians access to solar at no upfront cost. The soon to be energised systems have been fitted on 64 disability homes and 90 community houses and will operate using a PPA model. “The poor don’t have the opportunity to put solar on their homes,” BlueCHP CEO, Charles Northcote tells pv magazine Australia. “They lose out because they have to pay all the grid charges… and this has not been addressed by the governments at all at this stage.”