Markets

Rooftop solar stronghold Western Australia has been offered a glimpse of its energy future with the market operator having activated its first virtual power plant to prevent household blackouts after heatwave conditions sparked concern for the state’s main energy grid.

Polysilicon prices started to rise in the second half of January, according to new data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA).

Singapore-based vanadium redox flow battery maker VFlowTech has raised $14.4 million (USD 10 million) as part of a Series A funding round. It will use the capital to set up a 200 MWh vanadium flow battery factory for the production of its 250 kWh product.

Large-scale wind and solar farm investment commitments grew nearly 50% in 2022, according to new data published by the Clean Energy Regulator.

Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, speaks to pv magazine as part of our Only5mins! series about the crisis threatening Adani Group with collapse, the “positive outlook” for Australian renewables, and the nation’s potential to become a clean energy superpower.

The budget signifies the government’s intent to drive domestic manufacturing of lithium battery cells as it waives customs duty on the import of machinery required for manufacturing these cells. It also continues with nil customs duty on critical inputs for solar manufacturing. The budget also aims to support large-scale battery storage projects through viability gap funding.

Solar and storage analyst Sunwiz is predicting an inversion of many of the trends that dominated the industry in 2022. While rooftop solar has bounced back after a disappointing year, Sunwiz founder Warwick Johnston tells pv magazine Australia, the utility segment’s position looks dire.

Malaysian oil giant Petronas is reportedly set to buy the Australian renewable assets of German developer Wirsol. With roughly 750 MW of solar and storage projects and nearly double that in development, the deal could be worth between $900 million (USD 625 million) to $1 billion, according to Reuters.

Queensland government-owned CS Energy has inked its first 100% renewable energy contract in a move that the state government says highlights the accelerating transformation of the utility’s generation fleet from fossil-fuel fired power plants to renewable sources, including wind and solar.

New data from Cornwall Insight Australia’s EV uptake model shows that under an extreme scenario, 22 million electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to be part of the National Electricity Market (NEM) states’ fleet by 2052.