Markets & Policy

Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson is urging governments to take “urgent” action on climate change despite the twin evils of Covid-19 and economic recession. The call comes amid criticism that Rio Tinto’s own emissions reductions schemes are too weak.

Australia’s previously booming rooftop PV market segment is likely to see a steep decline in the face of Covid-19 related shutdowns and uncertainty. An industry survey has revealed that around 50% or survey respondents have seen customer enquiries decline by between 25-50%, with a further 20% reporting that new leads have dried up completely.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation along with its partners has released an Issues Paper on the halting state of Australia’s infrastructural development. The paper highlights the nation’s short-sighted infrastructural projects and their weight upon the energy transition.

With 4.4 GW of new renewable energy capacity installed and almost a quarter of Australia’s electricity supply now coming from renewable energy sources, 2019 was another year of extraordinary growth, according to the latest edition of the Clean Energy Australia report. As rooftop solar continued its record-breaking streak, big PV made up more than two-thirds of Australia’s large-scale renewable energy capacity installed last year. Meanwhile, the battery storage sector started to gain momentum.

Hanoi has set new feed-in tariff rates for utility-scale, rooftop and floating PV projects, ending a long period of policy uncertainty. The government has announced the new rates, which are broadly in line with industry expectations, roughly 10 months after the expiration of its old tariffs.

EnergyLab has launched an ARENA funded scaleup program. More than ever, Australia is witnessing immense interest in startups in the energy sector. EnergyLab supports these startups and through this new scaleup program, aims to support late-stage clean energy startups.

Melbourne solar Thermal Hydro tech company RayGen has announced a strategic partnership with global developer Photon Energy. The boost comes only weeks after added ARENA funding and signals a major push toward a solution to the problem of solar intermittency.

Dubbo, birthplace of Glenn McGrath, has announced its membership in the Cities Power Partnership (CPP) program as it looks to transition to renewable energies, particularly solar.

French renewable energy developer Neoen is looking to develop a massive battery near Geelong that will dwarf its largest project to date – South Australia’s 100MW/129MWh Tesla big battery.

Global grid-connected solar capacity reached 580.1 GW at the end of 2019, along with 3.4 GW of offgrid PV, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Total installed renewables capacity hit a remarkable 2,563.8 GW, with hydropower remaining the dominant source at 1,310.9 GW, followed by wind at 622.7 GW.