Energy Management Systems

Startup accelerator EnergyLab is showcasing its 2023 cohort of promising climate tech startups this morning. Ahead of the launch, pv magazine Australia caught up with participants Energy Synapse and PowerPlay.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed increasing price caps on the country’s main electricity market. This is meant to allow investors to respond to fill gaps created by ageing coal generation.

Japanese company IHI Corporation, which specialises in green ammonia technology to decarbonise industry, has joined the consortium of companies developing the green hydrogen hub HyNQ – North Queensland Clean Energy Project.

One of Australia’s best known solar recycling companies, Reclaim PV, has been handed down a windup notice by Victoria’s Supreme Court. The company’s insolvency highlights the deep issues of solar recycling and the complexity of trying to create circularity in an overwhelmingly linear approach.

New digital modelling technology has made visible 10 GW of untapped capacity in Australia’s existing electricity networks. “That 10 GW number is probably achievable without any meaningful incremental cost investment,” Neara cofounder Jack Curtis tells pv magazine Australia. “This is something that’s really only come into awareness of policy makers, and even the private sector, in past six months.”

Australian thermal storage company, Graphite Energy, has received development approval for a $29 million (USD 18.6 million) sustainable energy precinct in Lake Cargelligo, in the mid-west of New South Wales.

A short report explaining upcoming challenges and solutions to electricity security has been published by the Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). The report calls for more investment to meet government targets and to keep consumer prices down.

Australian residential power prices have surged up to 25% this year. With solar rooftops booming as a result, Nikhil Jayaraj, managing director of Regen Power, looks at whether home batteries will keep pace.

Victorian company Proa says it has found a software-driven solution to the grid connection rules which have crippled solar projects in the Northern Territory. Requiring only a fractional amount of battery storage, the solution “replaces lithium with smarts” and effectively enables solar to be “scheduled,” Managing Director Victor Depoorter tells pv magazine Australia.

Jason and Kara are Canadian overlanders from the “Everlanders” channel on YouTube. Overlanding is self-reliant travel on the road, driving to remote places across international borders. pv magazine caught up with Jason between legs of their latest road trip.