Markets

Singapore-based renewable energy fund manager SC Oscar has snapped up New Zealand solar project developer Rānui Generation as part of its strategy to build a portfolio of renewable energy assets in both New Zealand and Australia.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Integrated System Plan has stamped the role rooftop solar will play in the nation’s energy transition, revealing that the total capacity of rooftop PV and other distributed solar in the nation’s main grid is forecast to rise from 21 GW to 86 GW by 2050.

Power giant AGL Energy has teamed with Melbourne-based solar panel recycling company Elecsome to explore the development of a PV materials recovery facility at the site of the coal-fired Bayswater power plant in the New South Wales Hunter Region.

New South Wales power grid owner Transgrid is looking at rolling out up to 14 synchronous condensers and 4.8 GW of batteries with ‘grid forming’ capability to protect and strengthen the security and stability of the electricity grid as coal-fired power plants retire and more renewables come online.

Former New South Wales energy minister Matt Kean has been appointed the new chair of the federal government’s Climate Change Authority.

Two Western Australian companies and three people have been fined almost $40,000 for an illegal electrical licence-sharing arrangement involving 25 rooftop solar installations at properties in the state’s southwest.

Australia’s first national Capacity Investment Scheme auction has been inundated with expressions of interest, with the federal government revealing that investors have tabled 40 GW of new renewable energy generation projects such as wind and solar.

It’s time to assess curtailment, as rising amounts of excess generation are being wasted in several markets. This can be problematic for the solar industry but Toby Couture and David Jacobs, coordinators of think tank Global Solar PV Brain Trust, argue that curtailment is not always bad.

A “nation first” local renewable energy zone will be established on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast as part of a pilot program designed to boost rooftop solar generation, store it and share it locally across the poles and wires infrastructure that already exists.

Australian infrastructure developer Pacific Partnerships has added one of the largest proposed solar farms in Australia to its growing portfolio, purchasing the development rights for the 700 MW Cobbora Solar Farm and co-located battery energy storage project planned for western New South Wales.