Markets

Australian solar energy investor New Energy Solar is to be wound up after the company reached an agreement to sell its entire portfolio of 14 solar farms in the United States in a deal worth $352 million.

Hype and hope for solid-state batteries (SSBs) continues to grow as industries from automotive to storage bet big on the technology. Leading battery manufacturers and a roll call of start-ups are jostling to get from lab to fab. The reality of SSBs is in question though. As Marija Maisch reports, the window of opportunity for the decades-old technology to make the next big step toward commercialisation is now.

The Australian arm of Philippines-based energy company AC Energy has secured a $100 million loan facility which will be used to accelerate the development of clean energy projects in Australia with the company seeking to grow its renewables capacity to 20 GW by 2030.

In a study that began in 2016, scientists in the United States purchased 834 PV modules, representing seven manufacturers and 13 module types, and installed them in various climate conditions to observe their performance over time. The results show that, while plenty of opportunities still exist to extend module lifetimes and reduce performance loss in the field, reductions in the manufacturing cost of PV have not come with an increase in their degradation rate.

Investments in renewables are hitting new highs in China, as recurrent Covid-19 outbreaks and a crisis-stricken housing market threaten the world’s second-biggest economy, according to BloombergNEF.

Hygenco will build, own and operate a multi-megawatt green hydrogen facility for the long-term supply to Jindal Stainless Ltd, one of the largest stainless-steel conglomerates globally.

With headlines dominated by spiking electricity prices and energy security, the demand for off grid solutions in Australia is booming. “It’s starting to make financial sense, that’s significant,” Matt Miller, the marketing manager for Victorian company Commodore tells pv magazine Australia.

After turning down the initial bid last month, Australian developer Genex Power this morning confirmed it will progress with a revised acquisition offer from a consortium of private equity firms led by Skip Capital, belonging to Australian technology billionaire and Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar.

Lightsource bp will reach financial close on its 400 MW (DC) Wellington North solar farm in New South Wales and its 90 MW Wunghnu Solar Farm in Victoria by the end of 2022, making it one of Australia’s largest solar developers.

Energy ministers from around the country have powered up Australia’s shift from coal and gas to a renewables-based grid with a national agreement to enshrine emissions reductions objectives into laws governing the nation’s energy market.