Markets

The Queensland government will team with the Smart Energy Council to develop an industry-led solar panel recycling scheme and investigate a ban on the dumping of end-of-life panels as it prepares for a surge in the number of decommissioned PV modules coming off rooftops.

Metal recycling company Sims plans to offload its 50% stake in Queensland-headquartered renewable energy group LMS Energy which owns and operates six solar plants and 36 waste-to-energy facilities at landfill sites throughout Australia.

BayWa AG is strategically realigning BayWa re so it can sell its solar trade business. In the future, the subsidiary will focus on international projects as an independent power producer (IPP).

BMW has launched its iX5 Hydrogen vehicle pilot fleet, with plans to start production by the end of the decade. Everfuel and Hy24, meanwhile, have launched a joint venture to accelerate hydrogen development in Scandinavia.

A report from consultancy Climate Energy Finance finds that Australia and New Zealand have a more than $10 billion (USD 6.7 billion) pipeline of investment proposals in resource value-adding critical minerals, including in lithium, nickel, cobalt, vanadium, rare earths, hydrogen electrolysers, green ammonia, and value-added downstream battery developments.

In recent years, global renewables developer BayWa re has been turning its attention to the Asia Pacific, expanding into Southeast Asia. Junrhey Castro, the company’s director of solar distribution in Southeast Asia, sat down with pv magazine Australia to discuss its experiences in the emerging markets of the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Sono Motors, a solar electric-vehicle manufacturer in Germany, has terminated its Sion passenger car development program, as it has failed to secure enough funding to support pre-series production. It says it will now focus exclusively on retrofitting and integrating its patented solar technology into third-party vehicles.

Adani (1,755 MW), NTPC (1,618 MW), and Avaada (1,383 MW) were the top developers by projects commissioned in 2022, according to Bridge To India’s latest report.

Only weeks after announcing its plan to build a lithium-ion battery gigafactory in Geelong, Australia-based startup Recharge Industries has bought collapsed battery maker Britishvolt – doubling its manufacturing ambitions. The takeover resuscitates Britishvolt’s gigafactory play in northern England, and means the little known startup now holds two significant battery making projects.

Global solar developer Lightsource bp is reportedly testing buyer interest in five Australian projects, hiring Macquarie Capital to run early-stage market soundings on the deal which could potentially be worth around $1 billion (USD 670 million).