Energy Management Systems

Australian fossil fuels giant Woodside will invest in US-based concentrated solar startup Heliogen, supporting its construction of a full-scale concentrated solar thermal demonstration plant in California ahead of a push into Australia.

New Zealand’s federal government has opened the final funding round in its NZ$14 million (AU$13 million) Māori Housing Renewable Energy Fund, open to small and larger-scale projects.

Sydney’s Bay Port will soon be offering 100% renewably sourced power to docked ships, a world first for a dry-bulk precinct and the first in the Southern Hemisphere for a cruise terminal.

Given the goings-on in the world this last quarter, Mike Jefferies, Investment Manager at Octopus Investments Australia, takes a look at the current macroeconomic environment, how this is tied to energy markets, the impacts Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on that energy market, what this could mean for Australia and how renewables could help address these issues.

With residents across New South Wales and southeast Queensland still cleaning up after the devastating floods that ripped through their communities earlier this month, solar industry advocacy group Safer Solar has issued a call for Australia to mandate rapid shutdown technology on solar PV systems.

A report published by IRENA hints the world’s politicians will have to get to work immediately to avoid another generation of fossil fuel-fired hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol plants being set up to run into the second half of the century.

For short-term storage in a 100% renewables grid, thermal energy storage located at concentrating solar power plants could compete with batteries, found a study using an idealised grid model. Seasonal storage needs could best be met with power-to-gas-to-power technology.

A multibillion-dollar solar, battery storage, wind and potentially green hydrogen project in Victoria’s Gippsland region is moving forward after getting backing from superfund Hostplus. Originally proposed by Solis Renewable Energy, the project is now owned by Octopus Australia as part of its joint venture with CFEC.

The Victorian government will fund a floating solar project, an initiative to locally manufacture solar batteries, and install a portable renewable energy system for community services during emergencies as part of its Latrobe Valley program.

What can wave energy converters do that no other form of renewable energy can? Well, they can remove waves’ energy. For a country like Australia, where much of our population and wealth is concentrated on coastlines evermore frequently battered by extreme weather, this proposition is particularly attractive. Especially if the technology is able to offer both protection and green electricity without radically altering marine ecosystems and aesthetics. “No one has looked at what we’re looking at before: combining power generation with coastal protection and trying to control it,” Professor Richard Manasseh told pv magazine Australia.