‘Bitter reality’ revealed in global renewables report
REN21 today published its Renewables 2021 Global Status Report, finding the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix remains virtually unchanged from a decade ago, even as renewables are installed at record pace.
‘Agrivoltaics can certainly be a viable and meaningful alternative to large-scale solar’
US expert in environmental and energy policy Alexis Pascaris spoke with pv magazine about opportunities and barriers associated with agrivoltaics. Agrivoltaics are a very practical and advantageous alternative to large-scale solar, specifically in places where there are land-use constraints or needs for rural economic development, she explains. Differences in costs related to ground-mounted solar can typically be attributed to the raised racking systems or additional fencing, but these upfront investments in specialised hardware are eventually recovered as agrivoltaic systems produce dual-revenue streams.
Japanese duo team up to build Queensland solar farm
Japan’s biggest oil refiner Eneos and Tokyo-based trading house Sojitz have entered the large-scale solar sector in Australia, announcing they will build a 204 MW solar farm in Queensland.
Queensland commits $2bn to renewable energy projects
The Queensland government has underscored its commitment to a clean energy future, announcing a $2 billion fund to be used to finance new renewable energy and storage projects, hydrogen production and clean energy resources projects.
Victorian solar farm included in international agrisolar program
Italian energy giant Enel will implement an experimental agrisolar program at its 34 MW Cohuna Solar Farm in Victoria with data from the research project to be used to help formulate a “best practice” template for utility scale solar PV sites in other countries.
Glenrowan West Solar Farm completed and commissioned
16-months after construction began in northern Victoria the 149 MWp Glenrowan West Solar Farm has finally been completed and commissioned despite the extenuating circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Plans for 3 GW renewable hydrogen production facility progress with land secured in Queensland in government–Japan partnership
State-owned electricity generator Stanwell has secured land in Aldoga, west of Gladstone, to build a large-scale 3 GW hydrogen electrolysis plant as part of its partnership with Japan’s Iwatani Corporation, well established in the hydrogen production industry.
Computational model for agrivoltaics
A U.S. scientist has developed a computational framework that assesses how well a hypothetical agrivoltaic project would perform in achieving desired outcomes such as the volume of PV electricity produced, and energy-to-agriculture. The method considers the high-frequency decomposition of solar irradiance into multiple rays and analyzes how these rays are propagated forward in time, to assess multiple reflections and absorption for various system configurations. It also takes into account panel inclination, panel refractive indices, sizes, shapes, heights, and albedo.
Solar & wind still cheapest generation sources in Australia, despite costly integration, CSIRO finds
Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, and the Australian Energy Market Operator have found even when factoring in additional ‘integration’ costs such as storage and new transmission infrastructure, solar and wind continue to be the cheapest sources of new-build electricity generation in Australia.
Renewable transmission superhighway, EnergyConnect, clears final hurdle
South Australian transmission company ElectraNet on Monday announced it will invest $457.4 million to deliver the its section of the Project EnergyConnect, the high-voltage electricity transmission interconnector between South Australia and New South Wales.
