Markets & Policy

Australian mining and resource technology company TNG Limited has set up a subsidiary, TNG Energy, to run point on the advancement of its green sector ambitions through the use of its high-purity vanadium pentoxide deposit to make vanadium redox flow batteries for off-grid solutions.

Responding to the findings of the bushfire Royal Commission, the Climate Council have pointed to solar and battery solutions as integral to building a more disaster resilient and decarbonised Australia.

230 Northern Territory businesses have already received their vouchers for Australia’s most generous energy storage subsidity, the NT’s Home and Business Battery Scheme. The scheme, which is still open for applications until November 30, offers grants of $6,00 to homeowners and business owners to install solar and battery storage, or complement an existing solar system with a battery.

In a new paper published in the journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, renowned PV scientist Pierre Verlinden examines the solar industry’s trajectory towards the 70 TW of installed capacity that will be needed by 2050, as the best choice for meeting climate targets set out in the 2015 Paris agreement. Silver consumption and recycling, according to Verlinden, will be the biggest challenges in the years to come, as well as ensuring balanced growth and avoiding a major installation rush in the years close to 2050.

As part of their recently finalised power sharing agreement, ACT Labor and the Greens will offer interest-free loans to households and organisations investing in rooftop solar panels and battery storage. The alliance government also plans to deliver at least 250MW of new ‘large-scale’ battery storage distributed across the ACT.

Australia’s largest free-range chicken farm switched on one of the biggest solar plus energy storage system’s of any commercial farm in the country this week. With 1.4 MW of rooftop solar combining with 2.28 MWh of energy storage via 5 Tesla lithium-ion batteries, the farm is excited to save enormous amounts on its energy bill and its emissions. Winner, winner!

The centralised nature of policymaking in Beijing would enable component standardisation to ease the transition from EV to stationary energy storage use, according to Greenpeace East Asia.

Construction of South Australia’s biggest solar farm, and the state’s fifth “big” battery will provide 810 jobs and a $41 million boost to the economy around Whyalla. The Marshall Government buys in and forecasts a $12.8 million saving on its energy expenditure over the term of its 10-year energy contract.

The Clean Energy Regulator is both watchdog — assessing applications for Small-scale Technology Certificates, Large-scale Generation Certificates and Emissions Reduction Fund credits — and oracle, weaving data to provide an overview of Australia’s energy supply and demand and the performance of renewable resources. A recent transformation of its digital capabilities benefits consumers and the renewable energy industry.

South Australia has done some hard yards in pursuing the transition to green energy, integrating 50% renewable generation into its grid, and advancing the management of a vast fleet of distributed rooftop energy resources. Now it’s seeking investors to continue the renewable buildout beyond its own requirements and potentially fuel the world with green hydrogen.