Markets & Policy

Vena Energy Australia has reached financial close on the second stage of its Tailem Bend 2 Hybrid Project thanks to a PPA with Zen Energy and green financial support from DBS, ING, and Siemens. The 128.5 MW project will comprise 87 MW of solar with 41.5 MW of battery energy storage.

Solar developers have until Aug. 23 to bid for the rights to build up to 1.5 GW of grid-connected solar projects under 25-year power purchase agreements.

The Greens party says it will now begin “formal negotiations” with the Labor government on its climate bill, raising concerns about what it deems an inadequate 43% emissions reduction target and allowance for new coal and gas projects.

Concerns Australia’s skills shortage will impact the new federal government’s hallmark $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program, as well as the clean energy transition more generally, have been raised at the Australian Clean Energy Summit in Sydney.

Octopus Investments Australia, a subsidiary of the major global Octopus Group, today launched two renewable energy investment vehicles totalling $10 billion. The Octopus funds’ first joint acquisition is Australia’s largest operational solar farm, the 333 MW Darlington Point Solar Farm in New South Wales.

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm expects the company to double its EV sales in Australia by the year’s end, hoping to see its flagship product catch up to its Powerwall sales. Denholm also said Australia needs to expand its lithium refining and processing capacity at “sprinting pace” to properly capture the global battery opportunity.

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has vowed to “turbo-charge renewables”, promising at least one million additional Victorian homes would have solar PV and battery energy storage systems installed by 2035 if the Coalition is voted in at the November state election.

The nation may miss its 2030 target of 500 GW renewables capacity by over 104 GW under the current market trend.

Project Symphony provides a glimpse into Western Australia’s energy future, argues the project’s communications lead, Megan Allan. With a large, islanded network featuring high levels of rooftop PV penetration, the pilot on Western Australia’s grid is aggregating residential PV into a virtual power plant (VPP) to participate in a simulated bidirectional wholesale electricity market.

The Australian arm of global renewable energy developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has pointed to the refinancing of its 100 MW Lilyvale Solar Farm in Queensland as a sign of renewed investor confidence in the nation’s renewables sector.