Markets & Policy

Origin Energy has won federal government funding for a feasibility assessment on plans to double the capacity of its Shoalhaven pumped hydro scheme in New South Wales and thus allow for greater storage of renewable energy.

The South Australian government has inaugurated its landmark $100 million Home Battery Scheme, which will subsidize the cost of buying a home energy storage system for up to 40,000 South Australian households. A nine-week priority period has been given to locally made battery systems, with Germany’s sonnen as the first provider to enjoy this benefit.

The Victorian government has allocated another $2 million in funding for Australia’s renewables-powered electric vehicle ultrafast charging stations, as the first charging site was unveiled at Euroa.

Sydney Water’s Bondi sewage pumping station will soon be storing solar energy through the use of 30 kWh of sodium-ion batteries, a cheaper alternative to the traditional lithium-ion batteries.

While there has been no concrete result of the COAG Energy Council meeting on Friday, a clear message was sent that climate change will not be considered as part of the country’s energy policy. The energy ministers remain locked in stalemate until December, when decisions will be made on a reliability obligation and national default offer for power.

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China, India and Japan, Asia-Pacific remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

Melbourne-based energy tech startup GreenSync has officially launched the Decentralized Energy Exchange (deX), a digital marketplace for grid services provided by rooftop solar arrays, battery storage and EVs owned by Australian homes and businesses.

Tesla energy storage deployments grew 18% and storage deployments grew 11%, as the EV + battery + solar company achieves its a long-awaited quarterly profit on the success of its Model 3.

Know for its blockchain-based P2P platform that allows energy trading between households, the Perth-based company is now launching a new token designed to provide retail investors with the opportunity to fund and generate revenue from shared renewable energy infrastructure.

On October 25, pv magazine will host a webinar, powered by JinkoSolar, in which the China-based manufacturer will present the case for using bifacial modules in large-scale solar plants, and discuss the influencing factors and their impact on bifacial PV tracking. In the following Q&A, JinkoSolar’s Andrea Viaro, Head of Technical Service Europe, JinkoSolar, and Colin Caufield, VP of Sales North America, Soltec provide a sneak peak into the technology and the advantages tracking can bring to bifacial technology.