Utility Scale PV

Who says size doesn’t matter? The talk of the solar industry town at the moment is the increasing module size. Trina Solar is right in the thick of this revolution with the release of several larger format modules back-to-back in recent months. As pv magazine Australia gets ready to host a webinar with Trina Solar Australia this coming Thursday, we sat down with one of the company’s APAC directors, Andrew Gilhooly, to talk shop.

NSW is growing its renewable energy pipeline at pace. Many sun-drenched regions are understandably worried that their landscapes could be “de-natured” by the march of large-scale solar. The Independent Planning Commission process helps to bring the state’s needs in line with community concerns.

Perth-based Province Resources has tapped on ERM to steer its 1 GW co-located solar and wind green hydrogen project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia through the raft of approvals required for development. The project is ideally positioned for domestic and export supply of green hydrogen and ammonia.

Bifacial PV modules and single-axis trackers go well together, but a global research team has now noted that a comprehensive location-dependent performance analysis still has yet to be done. Their findings could help to determine the right plant setups in different locations throughout the world.

Renewable energy developer MPower has reaffirmed its affinity for smaller utility-scale solar PV projects by successfully connecting two 5 MWac solar farms to the National Electricity Market (NEM) in South Australia in recent days.

A global ranking of large scale solar project capacities indicates prominent roles for a resurgent Spain, behind the usual top three of China, the U.S. and India, with Australia and the Netherlands also on the rise. There were disappointing returns, though, for the U.K., Italy and Canada.

Construction has commenced on Australia’s largest hybrid solar and battery project with work beginning on the 720 MW New England Solar Farm near Uralla in northern New South Wales.

Queensland government-owned electricity generator Stanwell Energy has committed to provide financial backing for a 50 MW hybrid solar thermal project planned for far western Queensland.

Canadian Solar is pivoting towards energy storage and is preparing to IPO its manufacturing and Chinese solar project activity in China, under the CSI Solar operation, by July.

MinterEllison’s second annual ‘Renewables Investment Report’ finds that over the past year Australia has become a safe haven for investment… The maturity of its renewable opportunities seems to outweigh existing challenges.