Utility Scale PV

Mobile test equipment is a must for fault detection and performance monitoring of large-scale PV installations. The Australian PV Institute has contributed to an international review of available aerial and portable ground-based technologies, and how to deploy them for reliable, relatable results.

The world’s biggest solar PV and storage project has suffered a setback after a Singapore electricity retailer which had lined up to be a foundation customer for the renewable energy generated by Australia’s $26 billion Sun Cable project announced it will cease operations amid a record-breaking spike in electricity prices.

Supermarket giant Coles will be 100% powered by renewable energy in less than four years’ time after the company announced the last of the power purchase agreements needed to meet the ambitious target were signed this week.

Mining giant BHP is poised to finalise a “bespoke” renewable energy agreement with the Australian arm of Spanish energy group Iberdrola for the 317 MW Port August Renewable Energy Park in South Australia to supply up to 50% of the miner’s electricity needs for its Olympic Dam mining operation.

Against the backdrop of a second Victorian reverse auction for renewable energy, German-owned developer Wirsol takes up a large-scale solar project in the border city of Wodonga.

From iron ore magnate to renewable energy mogul, Dr Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest intends producing everything he needs to turn the world away from fossil fuels to green hydrogen. The latest? A renewable energy infrastructure-manufacturing facility in Aldoga, near Gladstone.

Makati-based Solar Philippines has said it saw the potential of solar six years and is now aiming to help other companies accelerate the nation’s energy transition.

Beyond curtailment of abundant solar and wind output lies a giant sponge of industrial need. Engie Impact is determined to connect the dots.

Australia’s module supply landscape could experience a supply shock as legislation looms to stamp out the use of forced labor. Chris O’Brien, Maxeon Solar Technologies VP for the APAC region says that the measures that have left modules stranded at the U.S. border could very well occur in Australia soon.

PV’s contribution to a cleaner future can go well beyond generating emissions-free energy, but maximising the opportunity is not always straightforward. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, partner at Everoze and a board member at Skyray, argues that investors and lenders have to start making decisions today to fulfil the required disclosure regulations and make sure their fleet has a positive impact on biodiversity. The key challenge is to weigh the techno-economic-ecological risks, opportunities, costs and revenues.