Looking back

Australia’s first utility-scale solar PV project is marking its 10th anniversary, a milestone that also serves to highlight the pace and scale of the country’s transition to a renewables-led future.

Solar data company Solargis has released 10-year solar performance maps showing Australia’s massive variations in irradiance and the impacts of extreme weather patterns and events.

Australian deployment of battery storage remained steady in 2021, according to market research firm SunWiz, bringing cumulative installations to 1,089MWh.

Australia’s energy system was already a complex web, but it’s now transforming into the work of a labyrinth spider, which build tunnels so complicated and thick they look like white silk vortexes. You get the picture. Or you will from reading the Generator Insights 2021 report published today.

Energisation testing is set to resume from tomorrow for Neoen’s 300 MW / 450 MWh Victorian Big Battery, following the fire which caught global attention and destroyed two of its Megapacks on July 30.

Why do you almost never hear about prosecutions for illegal phoenix activity? Why do some Approved Solar Retailers behave so badly? And what remains of Australian solar’s cowboy history?

January normally sees a spike in the average wholesale electricity price. This year, however, increased solar PV and wind generation have seen this traditional trend bucked.

After a leisurely break over the holiday period, I have returned to my desk to get right back into the analysis of what I think will be a pretty exciting year for the NEM. Connection difficulties, commissioning delays and stubbornly high storage costs point to uncertainty on the supply side, while strong rooftop uptake continues to whittle out daytime operational demand.

The Australia Institute’s ‘National Energy Emissions Audit Electricity Update’ for July shows solar and wind generation is growing fastest in New South Wales, closely followed by Victoria; and it offers an historical twist on the country’s energy transition.

South Australia’s coal-fired electricity industry is in its final chapter with the sale of the 65-year-old Port Augusta power station site expected to reach settlement by the end of the month.