Markets & Policy

Modelling from a new report backed by ARENA has found that on-site solar electrolysis is not only the most cost-effective way of reaching Australia’s ambitions of both a domestic and export hydrogen economy, but perhaps the only way.

Researchers from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology have assessed the economic advantages of a fully interconnected global network. They found that an international grid could contribute to a global LCOE of €52.50/MWh. The higher complexity of such a system, however, would only be marginally compensated by additional economic benefits.

Australia’s leader, Scott Morrison, and several of his ministers, including the Minister for Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor, try at every opportunity to push more homegrown gas into the country’s energy mix. With global gas at rock-bottom prices, they’re now touting a gas-led recovery. What’s right and wrong with this picture?

The New South Wales government has amended legislation to allow for larger-scale solar systems to be installed on homes and commercial buildings without council approval and to facilitate the installation of utility-scale batteries.

New analysis highlights the need of, and Tasmania’s potential for, deep storage to back up Australia’s future energy market. Tasmania is determined to become the Battery of the Nation.

Renewable Investment Fund Solar Bay is dishing out its $350 million mandate over the next three years by buying on-site solar systems to provide discounted PPA’s. The move is part of an ongoing trend in smaller-scale renewable investment.

Sydney-based pre-fabricated solar array manufacturer 5B has selected Enphase IQ 7+ microinverters for the Resilient Energy Collective bushfire relief campaign. The initiative is looking to install stand-alone solar and Tesla battery systems at up to 100 sites around Australia affected by bushfires and floods.

Earlier this month, the Western Australian government released its Distributed Energy Resources (DER) roadmap. Another report focused on the threats posed to grid stability by accelerating solar uptake? Not so, says Bill Johnston, the WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy and Industrial Relations; it’s about opportunities.

The ten largest solar tracker companies accounted for 88% of the market last year, according to analyst WoodMackenzie, with the market growing 20% from 2018.

The COAG Energy Council’s plan to unlock Australia’s potential to reindustrialise its energy system has taken another step forward with the publishing of an Energy Security Board consultation paper. The paper discusses what the two-sided market required to free up the potential of household energy technology will look like.