Installations

The Victorian Branch of the Electrical Trades Union has called on RCR Tomlinson to “immediately pay arrears” owed to contractors in Victorian projects. The union has questioned reports that PV projects, such as the Wemen Solar Farm, are nearing completion.

Only weeks after Victoria’s first big battery was unveiled in Ballarat, the retrofitted 25MW/50MWh Tesla powerpack battery at the Gannawarra Solar Farm was commissioned ahead of schedule, confirms Germany’s Wirsol Energy. The developer’s major solar projects in Victoria have reached milestones: the 60 MW Ganawarra Solar Farm has successfully passed all commissioning tests, and the 110 MW Wemen Solar Farm has been connected to the grid.

Major universities across Australia are turning to solar PV to bring down energy costs, and to show leadership on climate change. In addition to deploying rooftop arrays across campuses, they are now developing their own renewable energy assets and coming to inventive financial arrangements, emerging as torchbearers in this booming corporate PPA market.

Project developer Sunseap has announced plans for one of the world’s largest PV systems floating on seawater, to be built in the Johor strait which separates Singapore and Malaysia. The 5 MW system is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019.

After taking a 90.1% stake in one of Australia’s largest solar PV projects – the 255 MWp Sunraysia Solar Farm last month, U.K.-based infrastructure investor John Laing has closed its second solar project in Australia – the 174.9 MWp Finley Solar Farm in New South Wales.

The NSW Department of Planning has given the green light the 55 MW Vales Point solar project, one of the first large scale solar power plant in Australia to operate in conjunction with a coal-fired power station.

After being commissioned in stages, the Bungala Solar Farm near Port Augusta in South Australia is now fully operational. At 220 MW/275 MWdc, Bungala is Australia’s largest solar farm completed to date.

While the rooftop market segment might indicate smooth sailing, the debate over low cost suppliers and installers serving Australian homes and businesses continues to simmer just beneath the surface. And one name remains especially prominent in the discussion: Euro Solar.

Passing the 2 GW installation milestone, opening its DG business and moving into Southeast Asia: Nextracker’s Australian operations is proving to be a bright spot on global map. For Peter Wheale, VP responsible for Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, it’s vindication of his conviction that the market was going to take off, and success in which fortuitous timing played no small roll.

The government-owned energy provider has signed eight wind and solar PPAs to cover the shortfall in its existing energy generating capacity and put downward pressure on wholesale energy prices. Snowy Hydro says it will be able to offer firm supply contracts at less than $70/MWh, which undercuts the current wholesale price of electricity.