Markets & Policy

Annual battery storage installations will exceed 10 GW/28 GWh in 2021, following a particularly strong year in 2020, despite the challenges created by the global pandemic, writes IHS Markit analyst Mike Longson. Combined solar and storage will be a core focus for new deployment in 2021, as the front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter energy storage markets are both expected to grow significantly in the months ahead.

The carbon market is finally a reality in China. After 10 years of delays, regional pilot schemes and general uncertainty, China’s national carbon market became a reality on Feb. 1, 2021. Over time, the scheme is expected to support China’s gradual shift away from coal toward more solar and wind in power generation.

The social media giant met its 2018 goal at the end of 2020 and now aims to achieve net zero emissions for its entire value chain by 2030.

The joint feasibility study between Australia and Germany, HySupply, to determine the viability of a renewable energy-based hydrogen supply chain between the two countries, has progressed again after global firm RWE Supply & Trading and Australian-based The Hydrogen Utility signed a Memorandum of Understanding which could see green ammonia exports from South Australia to Germany’s LNG Terminal in Brunsbüttel.

The speed at which manufacturers are introducing changes from one product generation to the next is accelerating – currently, formats are scarcely available for more than a few months before another revised product is launched. But occasionally new module dimensions also bring new problems, be it in handling, plant design, or logistics. Ever-shorter product cycles and hastily launched record-breaking modules with capacities of 500 W, 600 W, or even 700 W are not always welcomed with open arms – especially by those who have to work with them, writes Martin Schachinger of pvXchange.com.

South Australia’s electricity distributor SA Power Networks has announced plans to introduce new ‘flexible’ export limits for rooftop solar PV in some areas of the state in a bid to manage the growing amount of distributed energy resources and associated network congestion.

Jordanian government officials have met with a delegation from Fortescue Metals Group to discuss investment opportunities in green hydrogen and ammonia, although details of the meeting remain scant.

Greek energy company Mytilineos and its subsidiary Metka EGN continue to put down roots in the Australian market, signing a Power Purchasing Agreement which will allow construction to commence on its 23 MW extension to Wagga Wagga North Solar Farm. The extension comes after the company was fined in January for breaching its Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit by commencing works without first notifying Heritage NSW, leading to the destruction of Indigenous artefacts.

A new study from the Lappeenranta University of Technology predicts solar may even achieve a 69% share for total primary energy supply by the end of the first half of the century. In terms of price, solar PV is expected to achieve a capex of €246/kW-installed (AU$385/kW-installed) for utility scale projects, and of €537/kW (AU$840/kW) for residential arrays by 2050. The levelised cost of energy (LCOE), however, is expected to remain constant over the next three decades, as the energy transition will also be implemented with storage technologies, increased flexibility and the production of synthetic fuels.

In a strange synchronicity, two of Australia’s major aspiring vanadium producers have today come out with announcements. TNG Limited has solidified a deal to commercialise vanadium redox flow batteries using output from its Mount Peake project, while competitor Australian Vanadium has filed a patent application for its vanadium processing route.