Markets & Policy

Alliances with Germany and Japan to develop and commercialise emissions-reducing technologies would be a coup for Australia, if there were any concerted efforts at home to reduce emissions in line with international initiatives, and transition Australian industries to be competitive in a carbon-pricing world.

Since July 2020, the PV industry has been experiencing price rises, which have affected almost all the components in a solar system. As these price increases spill out into higher installation costs, we see end user prices for solar rising for the first time in 10 years, threatening the competitiveness of PV in certain markets. Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai on solar manufacturing’s supply chain crisis.

Australia’s success with widespread residential take-up of solar PV installations may be facing a stumbling block, a new proposal by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), the rule maker of the nation’s grid. And for solar veterans, the development summons the ghoul of Spain’s infamous “sun tax.”

Telecommunications giant Telstra has continued it transition to renewable energy, signing a long-term agreement to purchase electricity from the Crookwell 3 Wind Farm being built near Goulburn in New South Wales.

Governments and car manufacturers are investing hundreds of billions of dollars on electric vehicles. But while the electric transport revolution is inevitable, the final destination remains unknown.

Solar module manufacturer Q Cells Australia has revealed a growing number of residential customers are contemplating exiting the grid entirely as policy makers grapple with how to integrate increasing amounts of small-scale renewable energy technologies like rooftop solar PV and batteries into the electricity grid.

As the Australian Energy Market Commission rifles through submissions on its reform package proposal, the Commission’s Chief Executive, Benn Barr, tells pv magazine Australia about some of the “profound changes” which have been overlooked and why he thinks two-way pricing is crucial.

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, and the Australian Energy Market Operator have found even when factoring in additional ‘integration’ costs such as storage and new transmission infrastructure, solar and wind continue to be the cheapest sources of new-build electricity generation in Australia.

South Australian transmission company ElectraNet on Monday announced it will invest $457.4 million to deliver the its section of the Project EnergyConnect, the high-voltage electricity transmission interconnector between South Australia and New South Wales.

Australian technology company RayGen Resources has received funding to build a 3 MW/50 MWh ‘solar hydro’ power plant. Described by ARENA as the “first of a kind,” it is being lauded as one of the largest and lowest cost storage projects undertaken in the country. Energy giant AGL has also come onboard and will assess whether the technology would be suitable for its soon-to-retire Liddell facility.