Utility Scale PV

An independent exhibition brought to Melbourne Design Week by a group of 15 of the city’s top architectural firms demonstrates the blueprint for Melbourne’s transformation to “A New Normal”. “A New Normal” is a plan to transform Greater Melbourne into a self-sufficient city by 2030.

Two recent studies have separately shown that many scenarios assessing global decarbonization pathways are still predicting too-low future PV capacity and too-high LCOEs for the solar technology. The researchers analyzed scenarios provided by scientific researchers, government bodies and non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the European Commission, the Indian government, the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), among others.

New research shows renewables plus batteries would be able to offer Australia’s electricity grid the same energy security as coal and gas generators, leading to calls for regulatory changes.

AGL Energy has been remarkably busy in recent months trying to make itself look like a giant ship on the turn in the energy transition and not the Ever Given cargo ship stuck in the old sands of time. Now, AGL has announced plans to partition itself into two separate businesses which it says will provide them with the freedom to pursue their own agendas, but not everyone is convinced.

The German company expects to roll out its in-house proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology to implement a gigawatt production of electrolyzers. BP partners with UK gas distributor Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to develop blue hydrogen and Saudi Aramco teams up with Hyundai Heavy Industries to do the same. Italy’s Snam wants to build hydrogen projects in the United Arab Emirates.

The Clean Energy Council has released its annual Clean Energy Australia report, revealing a string of smashed records, as states, territories and businesses continue to ramp up renewable ambitions.

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.