Utility Scale PV

The Queensland government has signed into law a controversial regulation for solar farms larger than 100 kW, which requires mounting, locating, fixing and removal of PV panels at solar farms to only be undertaken by licensed electricians. The move comes despite warnings that the new rules will put hundreds of local jobs at risk and could bring some projects to a standstill.

A large-scale ESCO Pacific-championed solar project has received NSW Government approval, bringing to 26 the number of solar farms given the green light by the State since 2017. That’s another 100 MW towards the NSW goal of more than 10 GW of renewables by 2021.

South Australia’s coal-fired electricity industry is in its final chapter with the sale of the 65-year-old Port Augusta power station site expected to reach settlement by the end of the month.

With the submission of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E) this month, the massive Wollar Solar Farm project in NSW is edging closer to becoming a reality. 

The latest figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show that solar continues to eat into the share once firmly held by coal on the back of a dramatic increase in installations over the past 12 months. The trend was backed by energy storage facilities which continued to gain foothold as providers of frequency control and ancillary services, lowering overall costs in the first quarter of 2019.

The Brisbane-based solar and storage developer has placed Lyon Solar, Lyon Battery Storage and Lyon Infrastructure Investments 1 into voluntary administration after being embroiled in a court case over a wind up notice issued by one of its investors.

In pursuit of its Australian target of at least 2 GW of renewable projects, Risen Energy has confirmed its partnership with Australia’s cleantech investor Providence Asset Group. 

The Beijing authorities have confirmed the payment levels to be made according to type of project and region from July onwards but an auction process will be involved so the figures are for guidance only. No decision has yet been made on the 30 GW of capacity added since the end of May.

In an ASX announcement last week, Queensland-based independent power producer ReNu Energy said it had executed term sheets with Chinese solar developer Astronergy for the acquisition of two 5.8 MW solar farms in South Australia. The total cost to buy the projects and complete construction amounts to $17.2 million.

Thirteen of Victoria’s water corporations have partnered to buy clean energy from the Kiamal Solar Farm in north-west Victoria, at a much cheaper rate than would be possible individually.