Markets

Renewables have continued their rise in Australia’s energy market with a new report published by the Australian Energy Market Operator revealing grid-scale solar, wind, hydro and rooftop solar PV provided almost one-third of the National Electricity Market’s power needs during the December quarter.

Singapore’s trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund GIC has made a “strategic” investment in renewables developer InterContinental Energy, one of the major players behind mega solar and wind-powered green hydrogen projects planned for Western Australia’s Pilbara and southeast regions.

Hydrogen vehicle and fuel cell startup H2X has partnered with Indian automotive parts manufacturer and developer Advik Hi-Tech in a deal which will see the Australian company’s products delivered into India and the wider international market.

SunWiz analysis has found the most popular brands of solar panel and inverters in the Australian market, as well as how their popularity shifted throughout the quarters. In total, 5.2 GW of solar was installed in Australia in 2021, putting the country’s cumulative tally at 26.9 GW.

Western Australian vanadium explorer Technology Metals Australia and Japanese vanadium redox flow battery producer LE System have decided to tighten their relationship with an expanded Memorandum of Understanding that could see the construction of Australia’s first fully integrated vanadium electrolyte plant proximate to renewable energy hubs and major Australian population centres.

Fortescue Future Industries has acquired Williams Advanced Engineering for $310 million as it looks to capitalise on its critical battery technology to cut emissions from its mining vehicles. An offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 Team, Williams Advanced Engineering has already helped to develop an electric mining haul truck for Fortescue in 2021.

According to Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory (AECEA), this huge capacity may not be met by actual demand in the global market. Furthermore, the consultancy reveals that solar module prices should reach a price level of up to RMB 1.75 (US$028)/W by the second half of the year, and that in 2021 new PV additions totalled 53 GW with more than half of this capacity being delivered by distributed generation.

The Suiso Frontier cargo vessel docked at Victoria’s Port of Hastings on Friday to take on the world’s first shipment of liquid hydrogen. The ship’s arrival is a landmark for the Japanese-Australian Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project, which sees liquefied hydrogen generated from brown coal, and an engineering milestone in itself. But while the Australian government describes the product as “clean”, experts maintain that carbon capture and storage technology has proven only to be an expensive failure.

Philip Shen, managing director of ROTH Capital Partners, hosted top analysts from PV InfoLink to discuss their outlook on pricing, supply and demand at each step in the solar value chain.

Electric vehicle giant Tesla has inked an offtake deal with Australian miner Syrah Resources to supply battery-ready graphite as concerns over raw materials shortages continue.