Landis+Gyr and PEP buy smart meter business from Origin Energy
The newly founded joint venture raised $500 million in capital investments realize a large scale smart meter roll out in Australia. Origin Energy previously contracted Acumen for this sector. The Acumen brand will be retained and managed together with intelliHUB
Risen breaks ground on ‘merchant’ 121 MW Yarranlea project
Chinese PV module maker Risen Energy has begun construction on the 121 MW Yarranlea project in Queensland. The company intends to have complete control of the project, from module supply, through to EPC, ownership and operation.
Interview: “We played a huge role in large scale solar becoming commercially viable”
The booming large scale and rooftop PV market in 2018 is providing many reasons to be optimistic about the future of solar under the Australian sun. In reflecting on his six-year tenure as CEO at ARENA, ahead of his departure in August, Ivor Frischknecht points to the role the agency has placed in bringing down the costs of large scale solar in Australia as ARENA’s greatest achievement.
A cautionary tale: Sourcing modules in a tight market
German EPC Goldbeck Solar shares the unfortunate details of a botched module supply deal with China Sunergy. To date, Goldbeck Solar claims it is yet to receive a single module and has been let badly out of pocket.
US: Huawei and Locus to monitor residential solar power from Amazon’s cloud
The three companies are coming together to monitor Huawei’s FusionHome Smart Energy Solution. Customer data security system robustness drives move.
CER launches quarterly tracker, finds over 50,000 rooftop PV systems installed Q1 2018
With small scale solar being installed throughout most states at record clip, the Clean Energy Regulator has developed a tracker to provide a more indicative view of the path the small-scale segment is taking.
Clean Energy Council: Installation of 2 GW of large scale solar to get underway in 2018
Large-scale solar’s rapidly falling costs has seen work on a record-setting number of projects get underway, worth some 2 GW of capacity. The Clean Energy Council’s Kane Thornton made the observation at its Large-scale Industry Forum in Brisbane yesterday.
Report: Business not waiting for lower power prices, 46,000 have installed PV
Australian businesses are not waiting for lower power prices to fall. Instead, they are turning to roofop PV in record numbers, with a new report illustrating how C&I solar installations increased 60% from 2016 to 2017.
Downer to construct 87 MW Beryl Solar Farm
The 87 MW Beryl Solar Farm is set to become one of the first in the world to deploy First Solar’s Series 6 modules. The U.S. module manufacturer is the project developer, with Downer selected to commence construction in July.
Rystad Energy: 83% of utility scale pipeline to deploy tracking
Single-axis tracking technology will be deployed in the vast majority of Australian large scale solar projects currently under development. Rystad Energy made the observation in its latest research note, adding that at present two companies share 90% of the confirmed orders.
