Policy

Australian battery material start-up Sicona Battery Technologies will accelerate commercial development plans both here and in the United States after securing financial support from a group of international investing heavyweights for its silicon-composite anode technology designed to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries.

As many as 60 renewable energy projects are expected to lodge environmental impact statements in New South Wales over the next 12 to 18 months. As the transition accelerates, the state’s new Energy Minister has told renewable proponents they must substantiate what’s in it for hosting communities.

Queensland’s government has allocated $19 billion (USD 12.9 billion) to deliver on its energy transition plan, with a heavy focus on public ownership of energy assets. Queensland’s flush financial position was enabled by recent change to increase coal royalties, which injected an extra $10.5 billion into the budget.

Australia is set to electrify everything. Vibrant communities willing to trial the transition are the first in line to learn what to do and how to bring everyone along, reports pv magazine Australia’s Natalie Filatoff.

Compulsory acquisition letters have been sent to landowners along the route of the Central-West Orana transmission link this week by the state’s Renewable Energy Zone planner, EnergyCo. It marks the beginning of the formal negotiation process for the transmission line, which has yet to be put on public exhibition.

With less than 60 days remaining until the next raft of clean energy incentives outlined in the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act take effect, former Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Guy Debelle has warned the legislation poses a “material threat” to Australia’s push to become a green hydrogen superpower.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has published a document outlining principles to permit the use of rooftop PV. The new policy replaces a monthly capacity fee for rooftop systems, with a tariff calculated based on an intricate formula.

The Brookfield consortium looking to acquire Origin Energy has lodged its merger application with the ACCC, arguing the takeover is in the national interest since it will accelerate Australia’s decarbonisation. The application also flags investment figures as high as $30 billion (USD 20 billion), up from the $20 billion previously flagged.

Queensland has laid out an ambitious vision for the state’s energy future, releasing draft legislation that calls for an additional 22 GW of new wind and solar projects by 2035, supported by at least 12 GW of storage, firming and dispatchable technologies including grid-scale batteries and pumped hydro storage.

South Australia’s electricity transmission network operator ElectraNet has outlined a $2 billion-plus (USD 1.3 billion) pipeline of transmission projects as it seeks to keep pace with a “rapid” energy transformation that could lead to a doubling of the state’s electricity usage by the end of the decade.