Policy

Four western Queensland communities powered by state-owned diesel generators are set to switch to solar and batteries, including Boulia, Burketown, Doomadgee and Windorah.

Australia’s federal government has allocated $3 billion (USD 1.93 billion) from its Rewiring the Nation program to upgrade Western Australia’s two islanded grids, which lag the eastern states in their renewable energy share.

An alliance of eight Sydney councils have saved their ratepayers over $36 million (USD 23 million) by organising 100% renewable energy power purchasing agreements and working together on local energy projects.

Queensland iron flow battery company Energy Storage Industries is delivering 1 MW/10 MWh of flow battery energy storage to Queensland’s Stanwell Power Station just outside of Rockhampton. The flow batteries are part of a new government-run clean energy testing ‘hub’ at Rockhampton, which will also include hydrogen and workforce training programs.

Energy market analyst Cornwall Insight Australia has flagged that proposed new rules for the operation of big batteries could have negative effects on the energy storage market, suggesting the changes could reduce the revenue streams available to batteries and cut their lifespan.

The City of Sydney Council has taken the first step to eliminate gas connections in all new residential and commercial properties across the municipality despite the New South Wales government having previously ruled out a statewide ban.

Quarterly investment in large-scale energy storage projects has broken through the billion-dollar barrier for the first time but the Clean Energy Council has cautioned that a slowdown in generation projects means Australia is a long way off the pace necessary to achieve the 82% national renewable energy target by 2030.

Just days after a federal government-funded research body warned of potential cyber risks for Australia’s energy grids due to foreign-made solar technology, Sydney-headquartered wholesale energy software supplier Energy One has suffered a data breach.

Power utility Alinta Energy is progressing the development of a 100 MW/200 MWh big battery at Wagerup in southwest Western Australia that it says will provide support for the state’s main grid and facilitate the increased penetration of renewable energy.

The Australian government’s green bank has invested a record $1.2 billion (USD 770 million) in large-scale renewables projects in the past financial year but has warned “a lot more” needs to be done to reach 82% renewables by 2030.