Utility Scale PV

Helen Haines, MP for the Victorian electorate of Indi, will today put a Bill before Parliament that would underwrite and provide technical support to community renewable energy projects in regional areas, and mandate the opportunity for community to buy in to large-scale projects.

In the middle of Australia’s most iconic natural landscape, the township of Jabiru has begun its transition from uranium-mine support community, to Indigenous cultural hub and tourism centre. The local arm of German renewable energy pioneer, juwi brings its deep experience in off-grid power systems to the project.

Hybrid energy systems are blooming in Australia’s remote locations, as renewables are increasingly partnered with gas or diesel to advance the greening of desert industries and communities that operate far from the grid.

Large swaths of low-cost land: check. Lots of sun and wind: check. The ability to transport green hydrogen cost-effectively to energy importing economies: check. Then you’re in the race to become one of the “renewable energy superpowers” of the low-carbon economy. A growing number of countries are assessing their renewable resources and natural attributes and positioning themselves to become green hydrogen exporters. However, not all are created equal.

Renewables developer Neoen has released its 2020 results, announcing an 18% increase in revenue from 2019, a significant portion of which materialised from its Australian assets including the Hornsdale big battery.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s second State of the System update, a sort of ‘Around-the-Grounds’ of the National Energy Market, has revealed that 2020 set new records for both number of new projects connected and new megawatts of generation.

Indian multinational Sterling and Wilson Solar continues to build its presence in the Australian renewable energy market, announcing this week it has completed the takeover of Western Australian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm GCO Solar.

The 2 MW plant is installed at the historic site of agro-food group SPM, in Thailand. With 2.8 GWh/year of low-carbon electricity, it will cover up to 20% of the site’s annual energy consumption.

BHP has started the year by signing a PPA that will halve emissions at its Nickel West Kwinana refinery and double its green cred as a supplier to environmentally conscious lithium-ion battery manufacturers.

Debt financing services from Bank of China, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Westpac, have brought the first 400 MW stage of the New England Solar Farm to financial close, a massive milestone for massive hybrid project.