Finance

A major Western Australian mine targeting the global vanadium battery market was this week found to be bankable, with feasibility studies confirming the project’s “strong commercial case for development,” its owner Australian Vanadium Limited said.

Western Australia’s Pinjarra alumina refinery, run by US giant Alcoa and Alumina Ltd, has been granted $8.6 million to test electric calcination, a process which could significantly reduce refineries’ footprints. The grants awarded add up to almost half of the pilot’s costs.

The CSIRO will invest $50 million in four new programs to drive critical breakthroughs in electric vehicle batteries and creating storage solution which could “mimic pumped hydro.”

The Greens have announced a $6.1 billion plan to boost the uptake of electric vehicles and reestablish auto manufacturing in its previous hub, South Australia.

Western Australian miner Iluka Resources will build Australia’s first integrated rare earths refinery to supply electric vehicle and renewable energy industries. The project has been enabled by a $1.25 billion loan from the Commonwealth government and is part of a broader push within Australia to establish ourselves as a serious alternative to China for the supply of processed critical minerals.

The 7.5MW Cosgrove solar farm in central Victoria has reached financial close and will begin construction as soon as next month after its owners, Bison Energy, reached an agreement with an undisclosed Australian superannuation fund.

Tesla has increased the price of its Powerwall solar battery system by almost a grand, taking the total – before installation – to $13,700.

Last year was a disappointing period for China’s PV industry, as high module prices restrained domestic demand and the ongoing pandemic continued to cause upheaval. This year looks more promising, even though the pieces of China’s PV puzzle have yet to fall into place. But sorting through them allows for a better understanding of the world’s largest PV market, reports Vincent Shaw, pv magazine’s China correspondent.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest global outlook has spelled out just how ‘woefully’ far the world is from capping temperature rises at 1.5C, and lamented: ‘The stimulus and recovery efforts associated with the pandemic have also proved a missed opportunity.’

Renewables, climate change mitigation, the energy transition and Australia’s economic future were all big losers in Tuesday’s 2022-2023 federal budget. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s budget not only fails to provide direct funding for renewable energy projects but actually continues cuts to important institutions, and moreover proves the Morrison government’s belated 2050 net zero emissions plan was merely lip service prior to last year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.