Utility Scale PV

Australian renewable energy and storage company Edify Energy has dismissed concerns about a slowdown in the roll out of utility scale solar PV in Australia, declaring the future remains bright for the sector.

All of BP’s service stations in New South Wales will be fuelled entirely by solar energy after Lightsource BP signed a power purchasing agreement with Snowy Hydro allowing it to move ahead with its 107 MWdc solar farm in the Riverina Region of New South Wales.

London-based Eco Energy World, which is already developing at 300 MW solar project north of Gladstone, Queensland, has announced that it is going to combine the solar plant with a 200 MW hydrogen plant and 100 MW of energy storage for green hydrogen exports to the global market.

Congestion due to the push and pull of demand and generation across inadequate transmission infrastructure continues to play havoc with marginal loss factors. Although NSW bears the brunt of AEMO’s draft calculations for the coming financial year, there are some bright spots in the NEM.

Not all rooftops can bear the weight of glass PV modules. Some others have curves and shapes ill-suited to uniform, bulky panels. Flexible modules have long been advanced as the solution here, however the keys to unlocking this potential have proven elusive.

Both solar and the farming industry are beginning to see potential in the combined use of land for food production and energy generation. And as innovators begin to experiment with different forms, it’s becoming clear that in most cases it is solar that will have to bend to the needs of agriculture, and not the other way around, to ensure a positive outcome.

Mars Australia has signed a massive power purchase agreement with Victoria’s largest solar farm, Total Eren’s Kiamal Solar Farm, to offset 100% of its electricity with solar power. The confectioner has six factories and two offices in Australia which used over 850 GWh of energy in 2020, energy supplied by solar from now on.

Chinese inverter maker Sungrow revealed a 350 MW solar facility was energised in Loc Ninh County, Binh Phuoc Province. The project secured a FiT of $0.0709 per kWh.

The facility is expected to be located in the state of Ceará and to be powered by around 3.6 GW of wind and solar facilities located in the region. The project developer is Australia-based Enegix Energy.

EDF and Oceanus plan to build a pumped hydro storage station and a desalination system powered by wind and solar. The system will use saltwater to produce hydropower during periods of high demand, while producing affordable freshwater.