Markets

Queensland network operator Powerlink has released 40 works packages for suppliers to express their interest in working on the CopperString transmission link that is to stretch across the state’s north, helping to unlock large-scale solar and wind investment along with large deposits of minerals key to the energy transition.

Australia’s solar market and pricing has been shaken up in recent months with the entrance of Tongwei Solar. Compounding this is the global free fall in panel pricing, which solar analyst Warwick Johnston says is yet to properly hit Australia. “There’s super cheap panels that are coming through and everyone will have to adjust their prices accordingly,” he says.

Queensland’s CleanCo has opened expressions of interest to renewables projects wanting to participate in the transformation of its former coal-fired Swanbank power precinct to a clean energy hub.

A major jump in small-scale air source heat pump installations has been illustrated by the Clean Energy Regulator’s latest Carbon Market Report. Australia’s large-scale renewables segment, however, is languishing with the Regulator knocking its 2023 final investment decision (FID) forecasts down from 3.5 GW to 2.5 GW. Just a 0.5 GW has reach FID in 2023 so far.

Tesla has submitted a proposal to the Indian government to set up a Powerwall battery storage factory in India.

Solar module prices have never fallen so sharply in such a short period of time. One reason for this is the “PV module glut” in warehouses in Europe, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

Plans to develop a large-scale green hydrogen production and export facility at Port Bonython in South Australia have received a significant boost with the state and federal governments investing $100 million (USD 64.4 million) to develop infrastructure that will support the proposed $593 million project.

Brookfield’s plans to acquire Origin Energy face a potential snag with the energy company’s largest shareholder, AustralianSuper, saying the $18.7 billion (USD 12 billion) takeover deal offered by the Canadian investment giant “substantially” undervalues the business.

The rise of cost-effective TOPCon cell technology last year led to a ‘surge’ in production demand for solar n-type cell technology, with leading industry analysts TrendForce prophesying PERC cell capacities ‘may’ be phased out in two to three years. The company’s experts, however, warn that oversupply for p-type cells and modules may increase the price gap between n-type and p-type products in the upcoming months.

The share of renewables in Australia’s main electricity grid has reached a new high, with rooftop and grid-scale solar, wind and hydro combining to deliver more than 70% of the total underlying demand on Wednesday.