Markets

Two new reports have sought to extinguish the floundering gas myth once and for all, showing the federal government’s “gas-fired recovery” plan will benefit neither Australia’s manufacturing industry nor domestic users.

Steel giant BlueScope is backing the NSW Government’s ambitious renewable infrastructure plan through a $20 million investment into the development of a Renewable Manufacturing Zone at its Port Kembla site in the Illawarra. The investment seeks to encourage innovation in the renewable sector and work towards the Government’s goal of constructing the state’s Renewable Energy Zones with local materials.

Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has given its partnership to Hydrogen Renewables Australia as it looks to develop the 5,000 Mw Murchison Renewable Hydrogen Project near Kalbarri in Western Australia. The project looks to utilise Australia’s best wind and solar resources to produce hydrogen fuel for export to nations such as Japan and Korea.

AustralianSuper, the country’s largest superannuation fund, has followed up from its dumping of shares in Whitehaven Coal with a commitment to a net zero carbon emissions investment portfolio by 2050. The fund, a major global investor, is as yet only a minor investor in the renewable energy sector, but that looks like it will soon change.

Few doubt that aluminium frames will be a part of the solar module for some time to come. And with PV manufacturing continuing to scale, the carbon footprint of this versatile metal may prove a sustainability challenge.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has outlined a $3.5 billion strategy to shore up Victoria’s electricity transmission network and system security as the state accelerates towards the legislated target of 50% renewables by 2030.

As Victorians fly out of lockdown and into the thick of summer the solar industry is preparing for the release of pent-up demand for solar which was hungered for during lockdown but went unsatisfied. pv magazine Australia sat down with AC Solar Warehouse’s Grant Behrendorff to gauge the backlog of installations and talk shop in the approach to a bumper summer.

On Tuesday 13th October 2020 Queensland’s electricity spiked from approximately $25/MWh to $15,000/MWh (the current market price cap) in response to a tripping incident involving the constraint of 11 solar farms and one wind farm. The event is being seen as illustrative of just what needs to be addressed in the design of NEM 2.0.

It remains unclear why Chairman Jin Baofang was detained, but the company said its operations will not be affected. The Paper, a Chinese state-owned media outlet, reported that Jin’s detention might be connected to the fall of Liu Baohua, the formal deputy director of the National Energy Administration, which has also been under investigation by the anti-corruption authorities since mid-October.

In an Australian first, newly re-elected Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk has established a ministry for hydrogen in her new government. The move comes amidst a raft of recent hydrogen related policies throughout Australia and reinforces the nation’s determination to lead the global race for a hydrogen economy.