Markets & Policy

The renewable sector has responded warmly to the reappointment of Lily D’Ambrosio as Energy and Environment Minister. Her title has been expanded to take into account the growing responsibility of running the re-elected state government’s expansive solar and storage initiatives.

The second phase of the proposed 250 MW virtual power plant will see Tesla Powerwall batteries and solar panels installed on 1,000 South Australian households.

The Philippines’ Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has said the removal of the 100 kW cap for solar installations under net metering would be difficult for the nation’s grid to accomodate. Meanwhile, a proposal to raise the treshhold is being discussed in the country’s Senate.

Greenpeace operates a renewables-powered electricity retailer in Germany, in a Hamburg-based operation. It has proposed purchasing giant utility RWE’s coal power plants and replace them with 8.2 GW of wind and solar power plants. Approximately €7 billion will be invested in the new facilities, which could be built without subsidies – Greenpeace Energy claims.

Infradebt has provided a $22.2 million senior debt facility for Epuron’s portfolio of operating solar assets in the Northern Territory with the accumulated capacity of close to 7 MW.

The German energy storage provider has begun assembling batteries at the former Holden site at Elizabeth in Adelaide’s north. The company has already hired 50 full-time employees.

With the Coalition in Victoria punished by voters and the Federal Government slipping further into minority, the muddled energy policy agenda of the conservative Liberal and National parties is starting to receive an electoral backlash. Long-reported public support for renewables can no longer be ignored.

Australian mining company Resolute Mining has inked a JDA and PPA with Ignite Energy, to construct what it says is the world’s largest off-grid solar hybrid plant, at one of its gold mines in Mali.

The Chinese manufacturer saw its shipments increase 24.4% year-on-year, to around 3 GW of modules in the latest quarter, with overseas shipped products accounting for approximately 80% of sales. The outlook for full fiscal 2018 was maintained almost unchanged, while new positive changes from policy side in China are confirmed.

The South Australian state government has launched a $50 million fund to support construction of new energy storage projects, seeking to address intermittency in the state electricity system and make electricity more affordable and reliable. There will be one round of applications, with a closing date of Thursday, 7 February 2019.