Utility Scale PV

A subsidiary of Queensland government-owned electricity generator Stanwell Corporation, which operates two of the state’s largest coal-fired power stations, has signed a five-year contract to maintain the Collinsville Solar Farm as part of its energy transition strategy.

Japanese utility giant Electric Power Development Company, known as J-Power, has acquired Sydney-headquartered renewables energy and storage developer Genex Power with a $381 million deal backed by its shareholders.

The Philippines’ Department of Energy has said that energy storage and maximising the country’s existing renewable energy infrastructure will be a major theme for its next green energy auction. GEA-4 will take place in the final quarter of 2024.

Italy-headquartered renewables developer Enel Green Power Australia has committed its 2.8 million solar panels powering current or planned assets to a circular economy by signing a long-term agreement with solar panel upcycling specialists, Elecsome.

Renewable energy and battery storage developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures says it has raised more than $1.2 billion in new debt finance for its Australian clean energy assets, including its first standalone battery project planned for Victoria.

Ark Energy has confirmed the development application for a 500 MW solar farm and 2,200 MWh battery energy storage system planned for northern New South Wales has been lodged with the state planning department.

Less than six months after site works commenced for a 5 MW solar project near Narromine in western New South Wales, developer MPower has announced that the power plant has achieved commercial operations and commenced generating revenue.

Growth in Australia’s renewable energy sector is strong with 43 GW of new utility scale generation and storage projects working through the National Electricity Market connection process but concerns remain that uncertainties surrounding approval processes could impact investor confidence.

Global tracker shipments reached 92 GWdc last year, according to WoodMackenzies’ latest report, with three United States-based manufacturers, Nextracker, Array Technologies and GameChange Solar, ranking as the three largest shippers in the world.

As bifacial modules proliferate, estimations of albedo are becoming more important and with developers not prepared to install weather stations to assess solar resource, a popular option has become third-party, on-site measurements over periods as short as a day. Is this an acceptable compromise between costly on-site measuring and less accurate satellite data? Everoze’s Stefan Mau discusses the potential benefits and limitations of this approach.