Markets & Policy

The International Energy Agency said the four nations are on track to contribute 85% of the 18 GW of global renewables capacity which is set to be dedicated to green hydrogen production by 2026. Elsewhere, the Port of Valencia has unveiled a plan to install a green hydrogen supply station in the new year.

Two of Australia’s most prominent energy players, AGL Energy and Fortescue Future Industries, today announced plans to repurpose infrastructure at AGL’s Hunter Valley coal stations to turn them into green hydrogen hubs.

A consortium including Australian concentrated solar thermal power company Vast Solar has filed to patent a new tank design for thermal energy storage systems. The new design, it says, substantially mitigates the risk of tank failures which have been identified as one of the key shortcomings of the economical storage technology.

Australian hydrogen research and development company, Star Scientific, has announced its technology will be used to provide heat for industrial-scale sanitation in a pilot with Mars Food Australia.

Sydney-based solar pioneer 5B has today announced it will acquire IXL Solar’s Adelaide-based manufacturing business, with pv magazine Australia told the purchase will see 5B buy everything but the name, effective immediately.

Floating PV is a growing niche in the solar sector, but its offshore segment has proven more difficult to activate, largely because of the difficulty of open-water energy generation. Nevertheless, the potential of offshore floating PV is almost unlimited, and one Singaporean firm, G8 Subsea, is looking to leave the safety of harbours and reservoirs.

Italian energy utility giant Enel Group has been granted a retail energy licence for Australia, with the company saying it will soon be one stop shop ‘greentailer’. Supported by its established Australian operations Enel X and Enel Green Power Australia, the new green energy retailer will first target commercial and industrial customers before expanding to residential customers.

The Victorian government has today announced it will put $5 million towards installing fast-charging stations across the state and $3 million in new charging infrastructure grants for local council and business fleets. The government also simplified access to its $3,000 electric vehicle subsidy, saying the program has led to a 200% sales increase in the last six months.

Batteries in South Australia have been paid to charge throughout September and October 2021 due to a record number of negative price intervals. Wholesale electricity prices were negative almost 40% of the time.

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.