Installations

British energy giant BP’s plans to build one of the world’s largest renewable energy and green hydrogen hubs in remote Western Australia has received a significant boost with the state government allocating land that supports the development of the proposed 26 GW project.

Before Puerto Rico had a chance to recover from Hurricane Maria, in 2017, it was rocked by earthquakes and then, in September 2022, the island was struck again – this time by Hurricane Fiona. These disasters severely impacted Puerto Rico’s infamously fragile power grid, but have emboldened local communities to take power into their own hands through solar and battery storage, and increasingly in the form of microgrids. Compelled by catastrophic circumstances, Puerto Rico must now push toward energy resilience and in the process may see itself become a model not just for other islands, but mainland grids as well.

Erthos claims that with its new installation method, solar facilities could occupy just one-third of the surface covered by conventional PV plants, potentially reducing installations costs by up to 20%.

New Zealand generation company Lodestone Energy has commenced early construction works on the first of five utility-scale solar farms it intends to develop across the nation’s upper North Island at a cost of $285.5 million (USD 191.5 million).

The New South Wales government has declared the Illawarra region on the state’s south coast is set to become a renewable energy and clean manufacturing powerhouse after outlining plans for a coordinated renewable energy zone that will deliver at least 1 GW of new network capacity as the state transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

A recently published report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) digitalisation found many industry professionals are unsure of a suitable method for estimating shading in BIPV projects.

Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has sharpened its focus on long-duration storage in Australia, announcing it has acquired the proposed Bowen Renewable Energy Hub project that is expected to combine 1.4 GW of pumped hydro storage with huge solar and wind generation.

Australian software company OpenSolar plans to speed the development of its free online solar design and sales platform and drive customer expansion globally after securing a funding injection of more than $22 million (USD 15 million).

FRV Australia has reached financial close on its Walla Walla Solar Farm thanks to a PPA with Microsoft. The company is also progressing its second big battery in Australia, the 250 MW / 500 MWh Gnarwarre battery in Victoria, after winning support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

A the newly operational electric bus depot in Sydney’s west illustrates the infrastructure required to run an electric bus fleet, but also demonstrates that an electric bus fleet requires less charging than originally forecast.