Utility Scale PV

Indonesia is a coal-dependent country in which conventional power grids are problematic. The archipelagic nation is turning to floating PV (FPV) to help accelerate its energy transition. Sorta Caroline takes a look at the state of play for water-borne solar and the problems that still need to be overcome.

Electricity retailer Zen Energy has announced plans to develop its first utility-scale battery energy storage system after acquiring the 111 MW/270 MWh Templers Battery project in South Australia from UK-based developer Renewable Energy Systems Group.

Province Resources has launched a marine survey to explore the potential of establishing a new onshore port to support an 8 GW solar- and wind-powered green hydrogen project proposed for the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) of the Philippines is seeking proposals for the lease of a 37-hectare area for solar deployment in Tarlac province.

Investment in financially committed large-scale renewable energy generation and storage projects in Australia ramped up in the final three months of 2022 to its highest level in more than four years but the Clean Energy Council has warned the pace remains inadequate.

Queensland government-owned renewable energy corporation CleanCo has unveiled plans to transform the former coal-fired Swanbank power precinct in the state’s southeast into a clean energy hub with the potential to generate up to 1.2 GW of clean energy.

United Kingdom-based Above’s founder and CEO Will Hitchcock sits down with pv magazine to discuss the solar industry’s growing demand for drone-based aerial inspection and data analysis, the game changing utility of digital twins, and what the future holds for autonomous drone programs.

The investment platforms from Octopus Investments Australia are set to acquire three new projects in the coming months in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. Launched in 2022, the OREO and OASIS platforms “allow wholesale investors and mums and dads to invest alongside big institutional investors and get access to big projects in Australia,” Managing Director Sam Reynolds told pv magazine Australia.

Raptor Maps analysed 24.5 GW of large-scale solar assets and determined that power losses due to equipment anomalies nearly doubled from 1.61% in 2019 to 3.13% in 2022. At the module level, cell and diode anomalies were the most common issues, it said.

Executives from Gentari, the clean energy subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas, and Japan’s biggest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, are eying Australia for future investments in renewables projects and green-steel manufacturing.