Markets & Policy

Australian energy technology startup RayGen has officially opened a 4 MW solar and long-duration energy storage project in Victoria, describing it as the world’s “highest efficiency PV project” operating at utility scale.

Snowy Hydro has revealed the budget for the Snowy 2.0 project has blown out to $12 billion (USD 7.8 billion) and the giant pumped hydro storage project is now expected to commence operations seven years later than originally scheduled.

The Australian Energy Market Operator says a 248 GW pipeline of proposed generation and storage projects, transmission developments and government energy programs have the potential to address many of the risks outlined in its latest market forecast – if they are delivered to schedule.

Italian researchers have compared the performance of hydrogen and electric buses in northern Italy. Meanwhile, Australian company Worley has collaborated with Princeton University to devise a 10-point action plan for Europe’s renewable hydrogen sector.

A tender for 600 MW / 2.4 GWh of energy storage in Victoria and South Australia has been announced as part of the new national Capacity Investment Scheme – essentially a project underwriting program coordinated by the federal government.

Desert Springs Octopus has announced three solar and storage projects between 150 MW and 10 MW for the Northern Territory which it will pursue in partnership with First Nations groups, the Larrakia Nation and Jawoyn Association.

Smart meter reform recommendations have been handed down by the Australian Energy Market Commission, which advised accelerating the national rollout and introducing a mandate for customers to have free access to their real-time data. Reaching 100% penetration by 2030 would provide $507 million (USD 328 million) net benefit value to the NEM, the Commission’s review found.

A German consumer protection association, Verbraucherzentrale NRW, has issued a warning about five misleading assumptions about PV-linked residential battery systems.

Jaguar Land Rover and Wykes Engineering are building a 2.5 MWh storage system with electric-vehicle batteries taken from Jaguar I-PACE cars. The large-scale system will store wind and solar at an undisclosed location in the United Kingdom.

The Victorian government has launched the first funding round of its new neighbourhood battery program and simultaneously announced the winners, mostly “business cases”, from its preexisting scheme.