Markets & Policy

GlobalData has predicted that the global electrolyser market will hit 8.52 GW by 2026. BP and Thyssenkrupp have agreed to cooperate on the use of hydrogen in the steel sector, while electrolyser supplier Nel Hydrogen has secured orders in Australia and Denmark

An international research team has developed a new way to evaluate the economic value of energy storage technologies. They went beyond pure cost assumptions to consider the benefits that such technologies could bring to energy systems.

Enel and Vulcan Energy are looking at the potential for lithium mining at a site near Rome.

Recycling solar panels keeps them out of landfills, but also provides much-needed raw materials with Rystad Energy projecting a value approaching AU$118 billion (US$80 billion) by 2050.

Speaking at the Sydney Energy Forum, leaders from Australia and the US have highlighted the importance of not only transitioning to renewables, but of ensuring the supply chains used to make the technologies do not remain as concentrated as they are today.

US giant General Electric (GE) has signed an agreement with Australia’s Arafura Resources, provisionally agreeing to offtake from the company’s flagship Nolans Project in the Northern Territory, which is aiming to become a major supplier of critical materials for wind turbines and electric vehicles.

Spanish energy and construction giant Acciona plans to massively expand its investment in Australian renewable projects over the next five years, following the new federal government’s pledge to upgrade national electricity transmission networks.

The Vietnamese government is reportedly concerned about legal action from solar investors if its new power development plan does not prove ambitious enough.

Interest and investment in heat pumps has surged in Europe, but in Australia the technology has struggled to find a serious foothold. Industrial heat pumps could reduce ‘hard to abate’ emissions here by 15 million tonnes per annum by 2050, according to new modelling from the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity though. Despite the potential, dodgy technology suppliers and schemes gone awry have left a bad taste in Australia’s mouth, CEO Jarrod Leak tells pv magazine Australia.

Australia’s national science agency has reaffirmed integrated wind and solar PV remain the cheapest new-build electricity generation options but warned inflationary pressures and ongoing supply chain disruptions are likely to stall any further cost reductions for at least 12 months.