Policy

Copper miner Oz Minerals has announced its intention to source as much power as possible for its West Musgrave Project through solar PV and wind hybrid generation. The increasing cost of fossil fuels is driving many mining companies to seek renewable alternatives.

The state-run fossil fuel giant has partnered with an unnamed foreign start-up to produce electric vehicle batteries using raw materials easily available in India.

Newcastle, NSW, home to the world’s largest coal exporting harbour, has announced a plan to source 100% of the City of Newcastle’s power from renewable generation in a move that could save ratepayers millions in energy costs.

Today we have heard of farmers in Australia unhappy at the approval given for three solar projects on agricultural land and also learned the benefits PV can bring for fish and shrimp farmers. In this op-ed for pv magazine USA, Stoel Rives LLP attorneys Sara Bergan and Thomas Braun discuss the balancing act to be made between solar and agriculture in the emerging Midwestern PV market.

The Victorian Government has heeded solar industry and customer concerns and wrought substantial changes to the Solar Homes Rebate Program, including a significant increase in rebate allocations and a streamlining of the laborious online application portal.

The Andrews Government has approved three new solar farms in the Shepparton region with a combined generative power of 175 MW. However, some residents are upset at the loss of prime agricultural land and the now redundant irrigation equipment which had been upgraded through government grants.

The two nations are due to sign an MoU today to set up the capacity in the north of Bangladesh along with 50 MW of wind power facilities in the south, near the port of Payra. China will supply an estimated $500m with the host nation freeing up land for the projects.

A mix of higher operating costs and ageing coal assets – plus historically generous solar tariffs – meant the utility banked more profit from the 1.53 TWh of solar electricity it sold in the first half than it did from 25.9 TWh of coal-fired power.

Industry superannuation fund manager IFM Investors has announced an ‘unprecedented’ set of Australia’s largest infrastructure assets have set firm emissions targets which are expected to be met with large-scale solar uptake.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will top up Evie Networks ultra-fast battery electric vehicle (EV) charging network throughout Australia’s highways with $15 million in federal funding.