Utility Scale PV

The Australian arm of Philippines-based energy company Acen Corporation has launched the approvals process for a major grid-connected solar and battery energy storage project to be built near the town of Cooma in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains region.

Larger wafer and module sizes have had a profound influence on module power output in recent years but standardisation appears to have taken hold, with no further increases evident in module data, according to Molly Morgan, a senior research analyst at Exawatt, which is now part of the CRU Group.

Australian software developer PV Lighthouse has secured almost $2 million in federal to drive the continued development of its SunSolve Yield advanced simulation engine that is designed to improve yield forecasting for utility-scale solar projects.

A NSW government program is being rolled out for business and local councils that buy over 1 GWh of electricity per year to explain how to procure clean energy from the state’s renewable energy zones using power purchase agreements.

Renewable energy company Enel Green Power Australia has bought the proposed 1 GW Tallawang solar and battery energy storage project being developed in western New South Wales from British-based global energy company Renewable Energy Systems.

The way has been cleared for a new generation of solar, wind and hydro projects to be developed in Tasmania with the state government lifting the legislative cap restricting Hydro Tasmania from building or partnering in new large-scale energy generation facilities.

The monthly energy infrastructure update from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shows solar accounted for nearly 80% of capacity additions in May, continuing its dominance of new-build generation in the United States.

Electricity generator and retailer Nova Energy is moving ahead with what is to be New Zealand’s largest solar farm after receiving the green light to build a 400 MW PV power plant near Taupō in the centre of the country’s North Island.

Adelaide Airport has revealed plans to install a new 2.3 MW PV system on its domestic and international terminal roof, nearly tripling the size of its existing rooftop solar capacity and significantly scaling up its on-site renewable energy generation.

Rio Tinto, the nation’s biggest iron ore miner, has reached agreement with Ngarluma traditional owners to pursue the development of an 80 MW solar farm as part of the company’s efforts to decarbonise its vast iron ore operations in Western Australia.