Markets & Policy

The Paris-based body expects the world will have installed almost 160 GW of solar this year, a record number, but still not enough to keep the prospect of a net zero global economy by mid century in sight.

As power systems integrate more digital and inverter-based devices, the guidelines and technical standards for these resources are evolving, and none as quickly and urgently as cybersecurity standards. New approaches to cyber defence are now needed to protect more interconnected systems with diverse owners, manufacturers, and system architectures. However, current cybersecurity standards for energy devices are still patchy. Upcoming efforts are aimed at changing that, reports NREL’s Connor O’Neil.

Federal Labor plans to increase the share of cheap renewable energy in the National Electricity Market to 82% by 2030 as part of its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by the end of the decade if it wins power at the next election.

Simply Energy on Thursday announced it will be extending its Virtual Power Plant program across the eastern seaboard and opening it up to five different battery brands. Simply Energy will continue its technology partnership with SwitchDin to do so, with Ryan Wavish, Simply’s General Manager, and Andrew Mears, CEO and founder of SwitchDin, telling pv magazine Australia they plan to introduce a whole range of new, more advanced features into the VPP as the relationship between the two companies evolves.

Solar manufacturer Jolywood, which supplied almost 500 MW of its bifacial tunnel oxide passivated contact panels for Oman’s Ibri II facility, has claimed the power plant is the biggest to date to deploy the high-efficiency technology.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has opted not to move “the goal posts on network charges” for energy storage projects, including large-scale batteries and pumped hydro, rejecting a request from the Australian Electricity Market Operator to exempt operators from being charged when drawing power.

Quality assurance and testing of solar farms is vital worldwide, but particularly in Australia where projects tend to be bigger and the climate more severe. Hugo Silva, Global Sales Manager at Enertis Applus+, takes a look at the different stages of testing and why they are an investment that will yield returns.

The Chinese manufacturer appears to have shouldered higher input costs in return for carving out a larger slice of the world’s biggest solar market – although it’s not clear from the company’s third-quarter update that CEO Xiande Li received the memo.

Western Australia has today announced the launch of its $35.5 million Virtual Power Plant trial, Project Symphony, which will examine the ways in which residents, utilities, and network operators can join forces to centrally orchestrate the output of rooftop solar, batteries and other distributed resources to best serve both customers and the grid at large.

Melbourne-based company Green Peak Energy has attracted the backing of one of the world’s largest investment firms, CBRE Investment Management. While deal’s details remain confidential, the Australian company, which focuses on operating renewable systems in the C&I segment and providing power purchasing agreements (PPAs), described the agreement as an endorsement of the problem it set out to solve.