Victoria solar rebate snapped up in under one hour
Even with the boosted solar rebate offering, this month’s first round quota was taken up in minutes. Another 3,250 rebates are due to be released on Tuesday, September 17.
Distributed Energy Test Lab set to open in Canberra
The Distributed Energy Resource (DER) laboratory “DER-Lab” will provide an environment for safe testing of new technologies including monitoring and communication devices, smart controllers, aggregation (e.g. Virtual Power Plant), market participation software and other innovative new products.
Space age solar solution moves toward production
A consortium of European research institutes has received €10.6 million in EU funding to establish pilot production of a high efficiency module concept developed by Swiss startup Insolight. The module combines high efficiency multijunction cells with a solar concentrator lens and has previously demonstrated 29% efficiency.
Kidston transmission line funding paves the way for more solar and wind
The Queensland government has pledged to support Genex’s project at Kidston with up to $132 million. The funding will be used to build a single circuit transmission line and connect a massive pumped hydro project with the main grid, unlocking additional stages for the clean energy hub, including up to 270 MW of additional solar and up to 150 MW of wind.
It’s official: Large-scale Renewable Energy Target achieved more than a year early
The Clean Energy Regulator has confirmed it has approved enough capacity to meet the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). While this is a great achievement for the renewables industry, the question remains what comes beyond 2020. Although analysts expect a slow down, ANU researchers find the record installation rates will see Australia surpass the scrapped target of 41,000 GWh of renewable energy generation around the end of 2020.
Rajasthan eyes 50 GW of solar within six years
The state plans to achieve half the amount by 2021-22 under its new draft solar policy. The package also suggests establishing a research hub, privately financed solar parks and encouraging commercial self-consumption of clean energy.
REC Group, Risen strengthen Australian distribution networks
Two major solar panel manufacturers are looking to expand their presence in Australia with new distributors on board.
Solar Victoria portal crashes as expanded rooftop PV rebate opens
Only hours after the release of the boosted September allocation of rooftop PV rebates, Solar Victoria’s application portal crashed, leaving applicants frustrated.
Project to turn biogas from sewage into renewable hydrogen and graphite wins ARENA backing
The Australian Renewable Energy Arena (ARENA) has approved up to $9.41 million in conditional funding to Hazer Group for the construction and operation of a groundbreaking hydrogen production facility in Munster, Western Australia. The project is utilizing biogas produced at the treatment plant as feedstock to produce hydrogen and graphite.
NSW gives “critical infrastructure” status to NSW-SA transmission line
The New South Wales (NSW) Government has declared TransGrid’s proposed 900km interconnector from South Australia (SA) to NSW to be a project of Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI). This signifies a strong boost to the dearth of transmission infrastructure revealed by the rapid growth of renewables, particularly solar PV.
