Markets & Policy

The operators of an energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining centre in the South Australian industrial city of Whyalla believe it offers a solution to curtailment issues that haunt many developers of solar PV projects in the National Electricity Market.

With Australia’s appetite for solar energy fuelling a projected surge in end-of-life solar panels, the Victorian government has launched a $10 million program to help deal with the more than 180,000 tonnes of PV panels expected to enter the state’s waste stream by 2035.

A solar PV and battery energy storage project planned for the New South Wales Central West tablelands has achieved a major milestone with project developer ACEN Corporation approving $800 million for the construction of the 400 MW Stubbo Solar Farm.

India’s Jakson Green will expand its solar module and cell manufacturing capacity to 2 GW by the end of 2024, CEO Bikesh Ogra told pv magazine this week at the Renewable Energy India Expo 2022. He said the company also has aggressive plans for green hydrogen and ammonia, with a specific focus on distributed generation.

India’s renewable energy sector, having so far focused almost solely on adding more generation capacity with ever lower tariffs, is undergoing a drastic change, as policy pivots toward domestic manufacturing. Vinay Rustagi, managing director of Bridge to India, looks at how the border conflict with China and endless supply side disruptions in the wake of Covid-19 have together strengthened the Indian government’s resolve to support the establishment of a more localised supply chain.

Australia’s first zinc-bromide battery production line has commenced operations with Gelion Technologies launching a manufacturing facility in Western Sydney capable of producing 2 MWh of batteries annually.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has unveiled plans to deliver its first standalone battery energy storage system in Australia, announcing it will build a 100 MW/200 MWh big battery in Victoria’s southwest after securing $7 million in funding from the state government.

Australia’s car manufacturing industry could be restarted as the federal government considers ways to increase the affordability, supply and uptake of electric vehicle technologies.

Australian energy regulators have called for urgent investments in renewable energy capacity and the transmission infrastructure needed to connect new projects to the grid as they look to ensure an orderly transition as coal-fired generation exits the National Electricity Market.

Dalian Rongke Power has connected a 100 MW redox flow battery storage system to the grid in Dalian, China. It will start operating in mid-October and will eventually be scaled up to 200 MW. The vanadium redox flow battery technology was developed by a division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.