Utility Scale PV

Queensland’s transition from a reliance on coal-fired power to renewables has taken a step forward with the state government tabling a new bill in parliament that locks in its commitments to public ownership in the energy system and renewable energy targets.

Traditional lands owners in Western Australia’s Pilbara region have signed an agreement with mining giant Rio Tinto to collaborate on large-scale renewable energy projects as the resources heavyweight powers up efforts to decarbonise its supply chain.

The Australian government has approved a third major renewables project in as many weeks, providing the green light for a 100 MW solar farm being developed in Queensland’s Western Downs region.

Australian superannuation giant Aware Super has made a large-scale entry into the distributed renewable energy market, teaming with Melbourne-based Birdwood Energy in a venture specialising in smaller-scale solar and battery installations.

Rooftop solar generation continues to achieve record levels across the National Electricity Market but the Australian Energy Regulator has warned of a “pressing need for new investment” in large-scale renewable energy assets to keep pace with the energy transition.

Researchers at UNSW have modelled how shifts in Australia’s future weather patterns due to climate change will impact the nation’s solar resource, including its dependability. They found solar reliability may increase parts of Eastern Australia by 2099, but the outlook worsened in Western and Northern Australia.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has made its first investment via the Australian government’s $20 billion (USD 12.67 billion) Rewiring the Nation Fund, committing $100 million to support the build-out of renewable generation, long-duration storage and grid infrastructure in New South Wales.

Aspiring renewable energy developer ACE Power will partner with the clean energy arm of Japanese energy giant Osaka Gas to jointly develop a portfolio of Australian solar and battery projects with a total capacity of more than 500 MW.

Queensland state-owned CleanCo has opened an expression of interest process to add 3 GW of wind and solar generation to its portfolio “to support our customers to achieve their sustainability goals, and to advance Queensland’s energy transformation”.

Fortescue is pressing ahead with the development of a 70,000-tonne green hydrogen production facility at Gibson Island in Queensland, tapping North American hydrogen technology company Plug Power to supply 550 MW of electrolysers for the proposed project.