Markets & Policy

Dutch research institute TNO has released a series of guidelines to reduce fire hazards in rooftop PV installations. The study follows a series of fire accidents that occurred between 2018 and 2020 in the Netherlands, for which the main causes were identified.

A global ranking of large scale solar project capacities indicates prominent roles for a resurgent Spain, behind the usual top three of China, the U.S. and India, with Australia and the Netherlands also on the rise. There were disappointing returns, though, for the U.K., Italy and Canada.

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia’s 2021 Renewable Superpower Scorecard has landed and shows how Australia’s states are putting in the hard yakka toward Australia’s renewable energy future while the Morrison Government lags behind.

Hydrogen transportation and submarine power lines have been compared by an international research team to find out which may be the cheapest option to connect for energy exchange regions separated by the sea. According to their findings, the hydrogen shipping alternative does not present very good prospects of applicability in the future, unless some disruptive technological breakthroughs are made. What makes compressed and liquified hydrogen ships still attractive, however, is that they can export energy almost anywhere, and that electrolysis and liquefaction plants are relatively easy to expand compared to marine cables.

Canadian Solar is pivoting towards energy storage and is preparing to IPO its manufacturing and Chinese solar project activity in China, under the CSI Solar operation, by July.

MinterEllison’s second annual ‘Renewables Investment Report’ finds that over the past year Australia has become a safe haven for investment… The maturity of its renewable opportunities seems to outweigh existing challenges. 

Battery capacity in the distributed and large-scale sectors continues to grow, according the annual reckoning of the SunWiz oracle. Although still a complex proposition, for homeowners, battery potential is beginning to be utilised in the hundreds of megawatts by governments and utilities, with some interesting side hustles in the mid-sized energy-storage category.

Hydrogen offers so much potential to decarbonise industry and transport, and the race is on to resolve the complexities of cost and supply. How can German-Australian collaboration integrate existing and emerging technologies for accelerated outcomes?

When coupled to gigawatt-scale solar and wind generation, green hydrogen could be the clean fuel to unlock hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy. But first it must be transported cost-effectively to where it’s needed.

The largest Australian-owned gases company, Coregas, has received funding from the New South Wales Government to develop a hydrogen refuelling station at the Port Kembla site of BlueScope Steelworks. The station will work to support the introduction of zero emission hydrogen fleet vehicles in the region and greater New South Wales.