Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

From polysilicon to panels through recycling, how much domestic capacity does the US have?

Hydrogen truck maker Hyzon has launched what is being hailed as Australia’s first locally designed and built hydrogen-powered truck at its regional headquarters in Melbourne. The 27-tonne truck is hitting Australian roads in a series of commercial trials this year, including as part of a longterm partnership with RACV, which has ordered three tow trucks.

Executives from Gentari, the clean energy subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas, and Japan’s biggest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, are eying Australia for future investments in renewables projects and green-steel manufacturing.

Australian mining company Australian Rare Earths is moving forward with plans to apply for a licence to mine rare earths in South Australia’s southeast as part of its flagship Koppamurra project.

The Queensland government will acquire the $5 billion (USD 3.37 billion) CopperString transmission line project which is set to unlock 6 GW of renewable energy resources and connect Queensland’s North West Minerals Province to Australia’s national grid. The shovel-ready project, many years in the making, is hailed as the biggest expansion to Australia’s energy grid in decades.

BayWa AG is strategically realigning BayWa re so it can sell its solar trade business. In the future, the subsidiary will focus on international projects as an independent power producer (IPP).

Allegro Energy, an Australian startup seeking to commercialise research into microemulsions to make non-toxic electrolytes that are cheaper “by factor of 100,” has commissioned a pilot-scale manufacturing line for supercapacitors in Newcastle, NSW.

A report from consultancy Climate Energy Finance finds that Australia and New Zealand have a more than $10 billion (USD 6.7 billion) pipeline of investment proposals in resource value-adding critical minerals, including in lithium, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, rare earths, hydrogen electrolysers, green ammonia, and value-added downstream battery developments.

Only weeks after announcing its plan to build a lithium-ion battery gigafactory in Geelong, Australia-based startup Recharge Industries has bought collapsed battery maker Britishvolt – doubling its manufacturing ambitions. The takeover resuscitates Britishvolt’s gigafactory play in northern England, and means the little known startup now holds two significant battery making projects.

CATL’s new lithium pricing structure gives Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEM) an effective discount of more than 20%. It is making the move to win more orders amid a slowdown in the electric-vehicle market and the ongoing efforts of cell manufacturers to secure raw materials.