Markets & Policy

The booming uptake of home PV systems has steered Western Australia to a new peak for instantaneous renewable energy share, with clean energy – including rooftop and large-scale solar – providing a record 81% of the total electricity generated in the state’s wholesale electricity market.

As Longi and other solar manufacturers kick off massive growth in hydrogen generation capacity, expect large price decreases resulting from steep learning curves, echoing the rapid advances experienced by the solar power industry since the 1970s.

Australian independent power producer ReNu Energy has signed a deal with the developers of a proposed 3.5 GW solar-plus-storage facility in Indonesia to explore the potential large-scale production of green hydrogen for supply into Southeast Asia and beyond.

Energy infrastructure company CuString has secured federal environmental approval for the massive CopperString 2.0 transmission link that would stretch across north Queensland, helping to unlock large-scale solar and wind investment along with large deposits of minerals key to the energy transition.

Mining major Anglo American has struck a deal with Queensland government-owned energy generator Stanwell to power its Australian operations with 100% renewable energy from 2025 onward as part of a 10-year power supply deal.

The Gladstone Regional Council has ratified an ambitious roadmap that will be used to help the central Queensland city navigate the transition from traditional coal and gas hub to a green hydrogen and renewable energy superpower.

After a productive pilot project that saw solar, batteries and VPP technology installed at 60 public schools in New South Wales, the state government is now seeking proposals to finance, deliver and operate such renewable energy solutions across 2,200 public schools.

Sun Cable is seeking to develop the world’s biggest intercontinental solar and storage project, and has now inked a deal with the Indonesian government that could unlock more than $170 billion (USD 115 billion) in renewable energy generation and transmission operations in the archipelago.

Australia features prominently in the top 10 but the latest edition of Ernst & Young’s renewables attractiveness index rates India as the top market for solar investment while Spain, Germany and the United States are the top three markets for corporate power purchase agreements.

Brisbane Airport Corporation has entered a long-term renewable energy agreement and announced it will develop a 5 MW solar installation on site as part of plans to power the airport’s operations with 100% green energy by 2025.