Markets

In a major battle over land use, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has decided to refuse a planning permit for the 200 MW Bookaar Solar Farm, near Camperdown.

Labor MPs together with three crossbench MPs have voted down an inquiry in the Upper House on how the Victorian government’s Solar Homes program was put together and is being implemented. The push for an inquiry was promised to the solar industry by Opposition leader Michael O’Brien at a protest held in late July.

Power purchase agreements for 8.6 GW of clean energy have been signed in 2019 till July—up from 7.2 GW at the same time last year—with USA alone accounting for up to 70% of the deals. India continues to lead the Asia Pacific region despite registering a slowdown in the activity – almost almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia.

The Andrews Labor Government is delivering on last year’s election promise to boost renewable energy in Victoria and is seeking to legislate increasing its renewable energy target to 50% by 2030.

By considering use of the metal in charging infrastructure, analyst Wood Mackenzie has found higher demand from the mobility sector than is the case if only the volume of the material required for vehicle construction is examined.

Touted as the first green bond issued by a retail property landlord globally, the $300 million instrument will fund initiatives to enhance the environmental performance for three of the retail assets within the QIC Shopping Centre Fund portfolio. The green bond was five times oversubscribed and attracted new investors from across Asia and Australia, as well as a cornerstone investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

The growing share of rooftop solar had a significant impact on Australia’s main grid in the latest quarter, both in terms of reducing operational demand and emissions intensity, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said. Looking ahead, AEMO is seeking to procure off-market emergency reserves to help protect the grid from potential summer blackouts the upcoming summer, as coal generator outages grow in frequency.

The grant recipients for the fourth phase of the Next Generation Energy Storage program have been announced. Launched in 2016, the $25 million program is supporting the roll out of up to 36 MW of smart battery storage.

Western Australia’s government has announced two units at Synergy’s Muja Power Station will be retired from October 2022. The state government said the coal-fired units were only being used about 35% of the time thanks largely to rooftop solar reducing demand on the grid.

Australian renewables developer Windlab has connected and energized its landmark energy park in north Queensland, comprising 43 MW of wind, 18 MW of solar and a 4 MWh battery.