Markets & Policy

Planning permits have been granted to two large battery projects by Victoria’s planning department: the existing Elaine Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) by Akaysha Energy has been approved for expansion at its four-hour energy battery, and Flow Energy’s BESS project at Bennett’s Creek that will further transform the former coal country into a hub for 24/7 renewable energy.

BloombergNEF says historically low module prices will drive the global solar industry to record installations in 2023.

The Philippines Department of Energy says the Maharlika Consortium – representing three companies – will develop two microgrid hybrid solar and diesel generator power plants for “underserved” communities located on Panlaitan island and the island of Mindoro.

A fire at one of Australia’s biggest lithium mines has left it unable to process ore for the past days. The fire at Mineral Resources’ Wodgina mine in Western Australia has since been brought under control and the company says shipping will not be impacted.

The Victorian government will repay, with interest, electric vehicle owners who paid a road-user charge later deemed unconstitutional by Victoria’s High Court.

Investment in Australia’s renewable energy sector is more than 10 times lower than where it should be to reach 2030 targets, according to the Clean Energy Council calculations. Australia’s “sluggish” large-scale segment is the result of a confluence of issues, and illustrates the urgent need for the federal government’s newly supercharged Capacity Investment Scheme.

Wood Mackenzie says in a new report that China could install 230 GW of PV and wind capacity and export more than 200 GW of solar panels in 2023. Unlike Europe and United States, the country is avoiding the high curtailment of PV and wind.

Cue, a town in Western Australia’s midwest, has installed 259 kW of solar and a 336 kWh battery system to wean itself off diesel. The installation is part of Horizon Power’s Midwest Solar Program and belongs within a much larger state-wide transformation.

Sunshine Hydro and project partner Energy Estate have signed an agreement to give First Nations stakeholders a 20% equity option in the companies’ Djandori Gung-i Superhybrid project at Miriam Vale, Queensland. The project proposes to deliver up to 600 MW of pumped hydro capacity and up to 300 MW of hydrogen electrolysers.

Having completed first prototype testing outside the lab for its green hydrogen photocatalytic water splitting technology, joint venture company Sparc Hydrogen has been working on its pilot plant study, selecting a site “proximal to Adelaide.”