Utility Scale PV

The town of Sandstone in Western Australia’s remote Midwest region is now being powered by renewable energy with state-owned regional utility Horizon Power unveiling a 163 kW solar facility coupled with a 759 kWh battery energy storage system.

A lack of clear policy support, raw material dependency, and higher production costs are inhibiting the localisation of European solar manufacturing, despite strong demand, writes Edurne Zoco, executive director for clean energy technology at S&P Global.

Australian-headquartered resources giant Rio Tinto has announced it will build the largest solar power plant in Canada’s northwest territories to supply electricity to its Diavik Diamond Mine located about 200 kilometres below the Arctic Circle.

Australian renewables company Pacific Energy has powered up the first of four solar-fuelled hybrid power plants being rolled out at Westgold Resources’ mining operations in Western Australia.

A group of Dutch researchers assessed the impact of including stakeholder input in the design process of solar power plants. It found that a co-designed approach may help counter the resistance of local inhabitants and result in more positive evaluations of the project.

Taiwanese manufacturer Winaico has developed new 525 W TOPCon solar panels with a power conversion efficiency of 22.1% and a temperature coefficient of -0.30% per degree Celsius.

Energy giant ACEN Corporation plans to develop a large-scale floating solar project that will add up to 1 GW of power capacity to its renewable energy portfolio after securing access to 800 hectares of water surface area on the Philippines’ Laguna Lake.

As the nation looks to foster the perfect conditions for a successful renewable transition, overwhelming attention is being paid to the number of new energy developments and the viability of transmission infrastructure to deliver it to Australian homes. Far less publicised are the practicalities of how the infrastructure will be developed and by whom.

The Northern Territory’s largest energy retailer is seeking expressions of interest from local, national and international proponents for the supply of up to 100 MW of large-scale solar for the Darwin-Katherine electricity grid.

Singapore-based developer Vena Energy has announced it will investigate opportunities to manufacture solar panel components and battery energy storage systems in Indonesia to support a hybrid megaproject featuring up to 2 GW of solar capacity and more than 8 GWh of energy storage.