Legal

The operator of the 150 MW/193 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia has been fined $900,000 after being sued by the Australian Energy Regulator for failing to deliver on its promise of providing services essential to maintaining the stability of the power grid.

The Clean Energy Regulator has outlined the second round of changes coming to Australia’s solar rebate program, the small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES). They primarily involve changing which body will manage solar designer and installer accreditations and who will publish approved solar panel and inverter equipment lists – both of which have formerly been the remit of the Clean Energy Council.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) this afternoon suspended the electricity wholesale spot market in all five of the participating National Electricity Market states, saying it has become “impossible” to operate.

As Australia’s energy crisis deepens with Queensland and NSW again cautioned over potential blackouts in the coming hours, director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Bruce Mountain, told pv magazine Australia commentators have underplayed the extent to which energy generators have exacerbated the emergency. Government intervening to take charge of the energy market is, for him, the most likely outcome as generators withholding capacity increasingly threatens to cause massive losses in state economies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a call for homeowners to urgently check their residential energy storage systems amid a national recall of some LG-branded batteries which may overheat and ignite.

The Northern Territory government has doubled down on its support for the world’s biggest solar PV and storage project with parliament passing legislation that will facilitate the $30 billion-plus Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project which is expected to transform the region into a green industrial hub and establish a new energy export industry for Australia.

A Western Australian solar PV company is being investigated by the Clean Energy Regulator amid concerns it falsified information relating to more than 500 solar panel installations that created about $1.7 million in Small-scale Technology Certificates.

Business magnate Elon Musk has avoided what would have been the largest judgment in US history on an individual executive.

Global investment manager Igneo Infrastructure Partners will acquire Elliot Green Power, along with its solar and storage portfolio, via its Australian business, Atmos Renewables.

Australia’s Macquarie is leading a consortium that has reportedly tabled a €2.5 billion ($3.65 billion) bid for a clean energy business formed by French private equity houses InfraVia and Eurazeo.