Australia’s largest solar farm goes ahead after Neoen completes financing
The 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub is set to commence construction imminently, after Neoen achieved financial close on the project. The solar farm is set to be Australia’s largest, and indeed the largest in Neoen’s global portfolio, generating enough solar energy to power every home on the Sunshine Coast.
Fiji plans ‘Pacific’s largest solar project’
The island nation has agreed a deal with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to develop at least 15 MW of generation capacity in a US$15 million project.
CEP.Energy’s $1 billion C&I rooftop rollout
Never heard of CEP.Energy? The new green energy fund is set to become a renewable powerhouse, installing gigawatts of solar, plus batteries big and small across industrial estates and retail centres around the NEM. Institutional investors are making this virtual-power-plant vision a reality.
Melbourne solar installers back to work as Covid-19 restrictions ease
Rooftop solar installation figures in Victoria have plunged dramatically in recent months but an easing of Covid-19 restrictions has provided a welcome boost for the state’s small-scale solar installers.
Construction underway at twin merchant solar farms in the Riverina
Photon Energy has commenced construction on two Australian solar farms which will deliver a combined capacity of 14 MW in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
X-Elio to build 200 MW Blue Grass project, signs PPA with Salesforce
Spanish solar EPC X-Elio has confirmed its arrival in the Australian market, announcing a “landmark” power purchase agreement for the output of the 200 MW Blue Grass solar farm in Queensland.
Floating solar plant with LCOE of $0.051/kWh comes online in Malaysia
The 13 MW array was deployed in the Selangor state on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The plant is selling power to local utility TNB under a 21-year PPA. The project’s levelized cost of energy is MYR 0.21608 ($0.051).
WA Affordability Experiment home applauded for innovation but limited in solar scope
In an effort to glean insights into the cost efficiency of sustainable housing, the Western Australian government in conjunction with private partners this week launched an Affordability Experiment home.
Vietnam opens 450 MW solar plant as utility-scale solar era dawns in SE Asia
Ho Chi Minh City-based construction company Trungnam Group said its army of labourers took just 45 days to perform site clearance for a project which took shape within 102 days. The 450 MW solar plant signals a new era in utility-scale solar for Vietnam, which is already seeing significant growth in its rooftop solar markets.
The weekend read: The plan to REZurrect Australia’s large-scale segment
Investment in large-scale solar appears to be faltering in Australia. The technology with the lowest cost, with no emissions and the fastest time to delivery, has often found itself dangling at the oversubscribed end of a limp transmission line, with additional, expensive requirements to connect, or earnings-slashing curtailments when operational. Investors have found no reassurance in the federal government’s winking at coal, courting of gas, and undermining of agencies established to support innovation and investment in renewables. In short, the Australian prime minister is showing a complete lack of urgency to act on climate change. Enter the Renewable Energy Zone.
