Two million more workers needed to enable Australia’s energy transition, government report finds
Australia will need a 40% increase in workers in building and engineering trades by 2050 to enable the energy transition, a new report from the Australian government says.
Fortescue ‘lead investor’ in US$1 billion electrolyser startup, signs 1 GW supply deal
Fortescue has become a “lead investor” in, and signed a 1 GW supply deal with, US-startup Electric Hydrogen, or EH2. Fortescue, which is pursuing both green hydrogen projects and electrolyser manufacturing, says EH2’s systems produce hydrogen at “transformational” low cost.
Octopus Australia acquires Queensland’s largest battery proposal, the 1 GWh Blackstone battery
Renewables player Octopus Investments Australia, a subsidiary of UK-based Octopus Group, has purchased Queensland’s largest battery project, the 500 MW / 1 GWh Blackstone project just outside of Brisbane.
‘Pretty crazy’: Queensland’s solar + storage payback periods plunge
Solar payback periods worsened in Australia between 2020 and 2022, but have now turned a corner, data from analyst Sunwiz illustrates. Queensland has seen the most remarkable journey, with payback periods for residential solar and storage falling from 10 to 6.6 years within 12 months.
Around 40% of the workforce in global PV industry is female
According to recently published employment report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global solar industry employed around 5 million people at the end of last year. The report also reveals that women’s employment in the industry was “uneven”, with females mostly hired for administrative positions (58%) followed by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (38%) and non-STEM technical positions (35%).
WA ushers in major reforms to support transition on its main island grid
A package of major regulatory and market reforms designed to support Western Australia’s energy transformation have gone live. The changes relate to the state’s main islanded grid, known as the SWIS.
India’s green hydrogen will be cheapest in the world, says power minister
Already 5.8 million tonnes of green hydrogen manufacturing capacity is in different stages of installation in India, said power minister R.K. Singh at a summit in New Delhi recently.
Solar wafer prices fall for first time in 3 months
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.
Lithium hydroxide from recycled batteries used to make Dragonfly’s cells
Dragonfly Energy is using lithium hydroxide recovered from recycled batteries to manufacture battery cells, with Aqua Metals leading the way in recycling solutions for materials in the supply chains for energy storage and electric vehicles.
Researchers developing cheap hydrogen storage
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.
