Markets & Policy

Hertz, one of Australia and indeed the world’s biggest car rental companies, has announced it will be adding up to 65,000 new electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet. While the percentage of those bound for Australia is still being negotiated, it adds to the rapid growth of our EV market – albeit from a low baseline.

Photovoltaics can wipe out 4.25 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year this decade, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Even so, the actions announced so far remain way short of what is needed, with capital flows to fossil fuels still greater than the cash directed toward combating climate change.

Western Australian miner Iluka Resources will build Australia’s first integrated rare earths refinery to supply electric vehicle and renewable energy industries. The project has been enabled by a $1.25 billion loan from the Commonwealth government and is part of a broader push within Australia to establish ourselves as a serious alternative to China for the supply of processed critical minerals.

The 7.5MW Cosgrove solar farm in central Victoria has reached financial close and will begin construction as soon as next month after its owners, Bison Energy, reached an agreement with an undisclosed Australian superannuation fund.

The Western Australian Government has announced $1 million in funding for the first phase of a feasibility study into a 600-800MWh battery and green hydrogen industrial hub in the coal town of Collie. The state government has promised the town, which has been powering Western Australia with its two coal mines since the 1880s, a ‘just transition.’ Sunshot Energy, chaired by eminent energy economist Ross Garnaut, is undertaking the study which could deliver a ‘just transition’ to Collie and green ammonia and urea to the agricultural and industrial sectors.

Indra Overland, the head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, tells pv magazine how the Ukraine war is irreversibly changing the global energy landscape, making massive renewables deployment a certainty. But labor issues, equipment shortages, and reliance on Chinese manufacturing remain obstacles.

Tesla has increased the price of its Powerwall solar battery system by almost a grand, taking the total – before installation – to $13,700.

Australia is vying to become a major green hydrogen export industry, particularly in the Asia Pacific, but new research from the Australian National University suggests the opportunity may be overstated.

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2022 event has shown the centrality of renewables and green hydrogen in the world’s future energy landscape. pv magazine spoke with the General Director of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Francesco La Camera, about the difficulties of creating a hydrogen economy in the absence of demand. According to him, public support and policies will be crucial to overcoming this challenge.

Last year was a disappointing period for China’s PV industry, as high module prices restrained domestic demand and the ongoing pandemic continued to cause upheaval. This year looks more promising, even though the pieces of China’s PV puzzle have yet to fall into place. But sorting through them allows for a better understanding of the world’s largest PV market, reports Vincent Shaw, pv magazine’s China correspondent.