Utility Scale PV

The developer of Australia’s first utility-scale industrial solar project will now build North Queensland’s first renewable hydrogen facility at its zinc processing plant with the help of a $5 million Queensland government grant.

A massive solar+storage project nearby Uralla in the New England region of New South Wales has locked in a grid connection agreement with Transgrid.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s announcement of the third tranche of projects to have fast-tracked assessments as part of the state’s effort to boost the economy in response to the impact of Covid-19 includes the program’s first large-scale solar farm, the 72MW(DC)/60MW(AC) Yanco Solar Farm.

The New South Wales government’s plan to deliver a 3 GW renewable energy zone in the state’s Central-West has been met with overwhelming investor interest and project proposals valued at $38 billion. To support the development of the REZ, the state government has quadrupled its funding support, while ARENA has allocated funding for TransGrid’s scoping study that will deliver a business case of the Central-West Orana REZ and provide a template for a national approach.

In the wake of Covid-19 it is more important than ever to accelerate Australia’s energy transition. Researchers find that the power of the fossil fuel sector, exercised at a grassroots level, must meet a compelling counterpart in the social benefits conferred by the renewables sector on local economies.

Straddling two state borders, the West Murray region in southeastern Australia has become a microcosm of technical challenges that can plague the energy transition. Faced with serious curtailment of solar farms in this electrically remote region, a remarkable inverter-based technical feat may have changed the game.

As the solar industry moves to embrace ultra-high-efficiency modules, the Chinese PV heavyweight has unveiled TrinaPro Mega, the first integrated solar system in the world that incorporates 500W+ modules. The solution is expected to be particularly attractive for Australia’s utility-scale PV sector.

Private PV manufacturers and project developers alike are set to be squeezed out by the state in the world’s biggest solar market, according to Frank Haugwitz, who has compiled a wide-ranging report as preparations for the next five-year plan gather pace.

pv magazine Australia sits down with Fulcrum 3D, the provider of the most accurate ground-based forecasting technologies for the solar and wind sectors. It’s amazing what a difference a bit of knowledge ahead of time can make.

The Palaszczuk Government is helping to fund a feasibility study into the proposed Barcaldine Renewable Energy Hub, a project with the potential to revolutionise the economy of the state’s south-west and turbo-charge the post-Covid-19 economic recovery.