Markets & Policy

With global demand for new energy storage soaring and nations and companies racing to secure battery metals supply chains, a series of major investments in Australia and Australian lithium mining companies is expected to accelerate the nation’s transformation into a critical minerals powerhouse.

Longi Solar said it will invest CNY 42.5 billion ($9.4 billion) in 100 GW of wafer capacity and 50 GW of solar cell capacity in Shaanxi province, China.

In the last years, warranties on solar panels have ballooned up to 40 years, but far from inspiring trust, these documents can end up eroding it. Described as a “hand grenade,” some installers claim manufacturers’ unrealistic installation manuals and poor claiming processes leave them in the lurch when equipment breaks. “I think its the biggest threat to the longevity of my business,” Mark Cavanagh, owner of Queensland-based MC Electrical tells pv magazine Australia.

Queensland-based ReNu Energy will acquire up to a 20% stake in fellow Brisbane company, startup Vaulta, which has developed battery casings designed for reuse and recycling. Vaulta will use the eventual $1 million (USD 700,000) investment from ReNu to scale its manufacturing capability and expand domestic and offshore sales.

“Gentailer” Origin Energy has granted the consortium behind its $18.4 billion (USD 12.8b) takeover bid, led by Brookfield Asset Management and US private equity firm EIG Partners, an extra week of exclusive due diligence. Neither reason nor timeline were offered by Origin’s brief ASX statement, fuelling concerns about the highly-priced deal.

Geelong is set to become home to a $300 million (USD 210 million) lithium-ion battery gigafactory. Recharge Industries, part of a portfolio from US fund Scale Facilitation, is aiming to start construction by the end of the year, targeting 2 GWh of production annually in 2024 and 6 GWh by 2026. The company is reportedly aiming to produce batteries without using Chinese materials, and appears to be part of a deepening supply chain play between Australia and the US.

The United Arab Emirates is treating Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which includes the World Future Energy Summit, as a trial run before the nation hosts the COP28 climate talks in November.

India installed 13,956 MW of solar between January and December 2022. This included 11.3 GW of utility-scale PV, about 1.9 GW of rooftop solar, and nearly 700 MW of off-grid/distributed capacity.

The Australian government has unveiled a $70 million (USD 49 million) investment to aid the development of a green hydrogen hub in the north Queensland city of Townsville as it looks unlock the benefits of an industry which it says could inject an additional $50 billion (USD 35 billion) into the economy by 2050.

Energy management software company SwitchDin will share lessons learned during Australia’s ongoing transition to a two-way power grid with counterparts in the United States after teaming with a coalition of companies to scale up the use of virtual power plants.