Markets

The Victorian Government has heeded solar industry and customer concerns and wrought substantial changes to the Solar Homes Rebate Program, including a significant increase in rebate allocations and a streamlining of the laborious online application portal.

Industry superannuation fund manager IFM Investors has announced an ‘unprecedented’ set of Australia’s largest infrastructure assets have set firm emissions targets which are expected to be met with large-scale solar uptake.

In an effort to replace two aging power plants, Hawaiian Electric Industries has launched a roughly 900 MW procurement, the largest in the utility’s history, across the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii.

Two reports have described how the world’s largest renewable energy market is moving towards maturity. According to the Brookings Institution, the Chinese clean energy market could become more open to Western investors and tech. A report by Fitch claims projects are moving back to inland provinces from coastal regions.

Energy giant Shell has launched a takeover bid of Australian gas-only electricity retailer ERM Power as part of its strategy to transition to electricity and its ambition to become the biggest generator in the world. Wood Mackenzie analysis suggests Shell is expanding into other global power markets.

The Australian supermarket giant will purchase more than 70% of the electricity generated by three solar power plants to be built and operated by Metka EGN outside the regional centres of Wagga Wagga, Corowa and Junee – the equivalent of 10% of Coles’ national electricity usage.

The conclusion of AEMO’s 2019 planning and forecasting consultation brings revised approaches to the 2019-20 Integrated System Plan: three new renewable energy zones reflect resource and generator interest; the forecasting of distributed energy resources has been reframed; and a fifth and critical planning scenario has emerged. 

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.