Utility Scale PV

A research group in Spain has demonstrated the technical feasibility of using repaired solar modules with satisfying results. However it warned that there is an urgent need to define a protocol for evaluating the features of a “viable” repaired panel.

Development of the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone is predicted to now accelerate with the federal government’s green bank announcing a $490 million commitment to support the development of key grid infrastructure in the New South Wales central west.

Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen believes the federal government’s $1 billion Solar Sunshot initiative could result in domestic manufacturing providing 20% of the nation’s PV panel needs by the end of the decade.

The CSIRO GenCost report shows renewables remain the cheapest new build electricity technology in Australia, with utility-scale solar emerging as the golden child, despite inflationary pressures, supply chain constraints and costs associated with additional storage and transmission.

The Australian government has knocked back a proposed 100 MW solar farm being developed amid coal-seam gas projects dotted across the Surat Basin in Queensland’s Western Downs region.

Genex Power has appointed UK-based engineering and design company Arup as owners’ engineer for the first stage of the Bulli Creek solar project that is set to become the biggest solar farm on Australia’s main grid once in operation.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has issued new warnings of potential breaches in the reliability standards for the National Electricity Market in coming years due to delays in key transmission projects and looming retirements of coal-fired generators.

North American hydrogen technology company Plug Power has agreed to supply up to 3 GW of electrolysers to Western Australian chemical company Allied Green Ammonia for a large-scale, renewables-based hydrogen and ammonia production project planned for the Northern Territory.

Perovskites remain a great hope for the future of the solar industry, once the possibilities of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction PV have been exhausted. A look at the latest perovskite research shows that industry optimism is built on a strong foundation.

Registration is now open for the first national tender in the Australian government’s Capacity Investment Scheme that is seeking 32 GW of additional renewable energy generation and dispatchable storage capacity by 2030 to support the nation’s clean energy transition.