Installations

The group behind an ambitious plan to develop more than 600 MW of solar PV and 600 MWh of energy storage in Victoria’s Gippsland region have announced planning for one of the projects included in the proposed three-pronged renewables portfolio is underway.

Western Australia utility Horizon Power has achieved a major milestone with the coastal town of Onslow powered 100% by solar PV and battery during a successful trial of what is one of Australia’s largest distributed energy resource microgrids.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest analysis of the Western Australian Wholesale Energy Market has found that investment in renewable generation and distributed solar is accelerating at a rapid pace, and importantly, that that acceleration is within the control of the state’s energy transition strategies.

Ruchi Gupta is a research fellow at the University of Geneva’s Institute for Environmental Sciences. She focuses on how flexibility options, such as sector coupling with hydrogen production, can support renewable energy integration and decarbonise a wide range of sectors.

Saudi-owned renewable energy developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures continues to build upon its Australian portfolio, commencing construction on a 5 MW solar-storage hybrid power plant near Dalby in southern Queensland.

Aldi Australia committed to reaching 100% renewable energy for its operations by the end of 2021, it’s done that with six months to spare. Achieved through an unprecedented commercial solar rollout, PPAs with two wind farms, and renewable energy certificates, the German discount supermarket beat out its competitors and is now preventing 274,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Over 1000 kW of solar capacity is being installed atop 59 Western Australian train and bus stations, with work already completed at a number of the sites.

REN21 today published its Renewables 2021 Global Status Report, finding the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix remains virtually unchanged from a decade ago, even as renewables are installed at record pace.

US expert in environmental and energy policy Alexis Pascaris spoke with pv magazine about opportunities and barriers associated with agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics are a very practical and advantageous alternative to large-scale solar, specifically in places where there are land-use constraints or needs for rural economic development, she explains. Differences in costs related to ground-mounted solar can typically be attributed to the raised racking systems or additional fencing, but these upfront investments in specialised hardware are eventually recovered as agrivoltaic systems produce dual-revenue streams.

According to a new study from LUT University, domestic water heating costs may be reduced by combining rooftop PV with geothermal heat pumps. Scientists developed a control method to minimise these costs by taking advantage of cheap spot market electricity and maximised PV power generation, as well as considering heat demand, PV generation forecasts, and heat pump efficiency.