Markets

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.

Honda has revealed a new hydrogen strategy, while Air Liquide and TotalEnergies have announced a new hydrogen joint venture.

The two dominant methods used in the industry to estimate soiling levels on solar projects go some way in mitigating losses, but there is plenty of scope for more accurate observation, as NRG Systems’ Alexandra Arntsen reports.

Former solar installer Gavin Brady has been convicted by a Victorian magistrate after an investigation by the Clean Energy Regulator found he falsely claimed to have installed 11 solar systems. When converted to Small-scale Technology Certificates, those false claims were worth $50,000 (USD 35,500).

Storage Hub founder Oliver Schmidt speaks with pv magazine about his outlook for battery energy storage pricing and the cost trajectory of electrolyzers. Schmidt’s new book, “Monetising Energy Storage – A toolkit to assess future cost and value,” will be published by Oxford University Press in June.

The hydrogen stream: ZeroAvia tested its new 19-seat hydrogen-powered aircraft, Chinese scientists unveiled new tech to promote bubble removal in electrolysers, and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology researchers claimed that the most efficient hydrogen production systems are based on waste heat.