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Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has released a draft energy plan with ambitious revisions to the nation’s previous energy and emissions targets. The proposed plan will sees a doubling of renewables compared to the previous target, and significant cuts to coal and gas, much of which it buys from Australia. Meanwhile, Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt reiterated the Coalition Government’s “Gas-Fired Recovery is the right policy for Australia.”

The latest global PV industry outlook published by trade group SolarPower Europe, has indicated tight supply of the solar panel raw material is expected to persist this year but the trade body said it would be unlikely to drive further price rises.

If built, the project would be the world’s largest floating PV power plant and would reach the same capacity as the largest ground-mounted facility currently in operation.

Western Australia’s McGowan Government has joined fellow state and territory governments in joining the Smart Energy Council’s industry-led Zero Carbon Certification Scheme. As the region with the largest proposed green hydrogen projects in the world, this is a significant step toward ensuring a future in which green hydrogen is prioritised.

Brisbane-based battery casing company Vaulta has more to celebrate than just Brisbane’s winning 2032 Olympic and Paralympic bid. The company has won a Federal government Accelerating Commercialisation grant that will see its innovative design pushed ahead as the tide of electric vehicles rising globally.

The volume of new PV generation capacity added in the first half was higher than expected, given the rising input costs seen in recent months, but solar was nevertheless outpaced by new wind farms in the first six months of 2021.

The number of residential home batteries in Queensland has doubled while electricity bill cost concern has almost halved, found the “biggest survey of its kind” conducted in the state. The survey’s findings, which set to be released in full later this week, were summarised this morning by Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, at a virtual event.

Compressed air energy storage is not exactly a new technology, but recent months have seen this older storage technology with a new lease of life as intermittent renewable sources of energy come to the fore. Recent large-scale air storage plants have been announced in North America and the Middle East, and now some of that hot air has arrived on Australian shores.

European commissioner for economy Paolo Gentiloni has outlined how the commission’s planned revision of the energy taxation regime, and introduction of an EU carbon border, could be applied.

The head of the nation’s Smart Energy Council told an event organised by the Global Solar Council, that landmark could be achieved even amid Covid-19 restrictions.