Markets & Policy

Founder and former CEO of SwitchDin Dr Andrew Mears is launching his new venture, Tesseract ESS, at Melbourne’s All Energy today. The proposition expands on his previous technologies to deliver a ‘storage-as-a-service’ model focused on Australia’s C&I segment, providing battery and solar systems at $0 CAPEX to Australian farmers, manufacturers and other businesses. Pv magazine Australia spoke to Mears ahead of the launch.

Renewables developer X-Elio, owned by Brookfield Renewable, has today announced it will add a 148 MW battery system to its operational Blue Grass solar farm in Queensland, marking its first hybrid solar + storage venture in Australia.

Energy Vault, a Swiss company which initially entered international markets with gravity-based storage technologies before expanding into lithium batteries, has signed a $350 million (USD 234 million) agreement with Australian developer Enervest to deliver a 1 GWh lithium battery for a site in Stoney Creek, NSW.

Solar Quotes founder Finn Peacock expects Origin Energy’s acquisition of the solar installation comparison service will accelerate the rollout of rooftop PV in Australia and the electrification of the nation’s energy system.

Indonesia has struck a deal with Chinese battery industry heavyweight CATL to build a giga-scale battery cell manufacturing plant in the southeast Asian nation as it works to establish a battery and electric vehicle ecosystem.

The Philippines’ Department of Energy says that at least 105 renewable energy projects, including 53 solar projects, face termination for failing to comply with timelines.

The Australian government will supercharge its program of underwriting renewable energy generation and clean dispatchable capacity by significantly expanding the next auction in its flagship Capacity Investment Scheme policy.

The Institute for Essential Services Reform says Indonesia’s solar industry has faced a downturn over the past two years, but policy reforms should accelerate solar deployment in the coming years. The think tank’s latest report states that 16.92 GW of projects are currently in the pipeline across the country.

The New South Wales government will pump up the state’s long-duration energy storage capacity target to 28 GWh by 2034 as it prepares for the exit of coal-fired power generation and greater renewable energy integration.

The volume of large-scale battery energy storage projects under construction in Australia passed that of solar and wind projects combined in 2023 and the trend has intensified this year, with batteries attracting federal support. As coal-fired power plants are shuttered, developers and suppliers are enjoying a battery bonanza.