Policy

The Australian federal government’s $20 billion (USD 12.6 billion) Rewiring the Nation program has kicked off with billions allocated to support two major interconnector transmission projects.

The demand for electric vehicles in Australia increased by 65% in 2022, reaching 3.39% market share of total new car sales, according to the Electric Vehicle Council’s latest report. Tesla continues to be the dominant brand, with New South Wales and Australia Capital Territory governments topping the charts on policy leadership.

The government of the Philippines has introduced a new preferential dispatch policy for renewable energy in the country’s wholesale electricity spot market. It has also started to amend the Renewable Energy Act to remove a 40% ownership cap on foreign investments in clean energy projects.

The head of the country’s energy market operator has reiterated his call for the development of a mechanism that incentivises dispatchable capacity, saying it is critical to underpin the growth of renewables as Australia’s energy transition continues to accelerate.

Islandable microgrids are a growing niche, especially in remote regions at the end of electricity networks or parts of the world prone to natural disasters and outages. Renewably powered microgrids can provide a community with more stability and operate independently, so vulnerable regions are not reliant on distant sources of generation, as was the case during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, when communities were left powerless. From California to Australia’s southern coast, the study and deployment of microgrids is on the rise. pv magazine’s Blake Matich takes a look.

Six new solar farm projects totalling 623 MW of renewable capacity and four big batteries delivering up to 365 MW and 600 MWh of new energy storage have been given the tick of approval by the Victorian government as it looks to meet its target of powering all its operations with clean energy by 2025.

India’s cumulative residential rooftop solar capacity may rise by 60% to reach 3.2 GW by March 31, 2023 driven by rising consumer demand coupled with strong government support.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is calling for an independent inquiry into Australia’s electricity networks and their regulators claiming Australians have been overcharged $10 billion (USD 6.5 billion) in the past eight years by distribution and transmission network service businesses making “supernormal” profits from consumers forced to use their poles and wires.

The Queensland government is looking to jumpstart a local renewable energy equipment manufacturing sector, today calling on electrical manufacturing businesses to register their interest in supplying the thousands of batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and kilometres of transmission lines the state says it will need to enact its $62 billion energy transformation plan.

New South Wales has today opened the first in what’s to be a decade of rolling tenders, part of the state’s momentous vision of fitting out 12 GW of renewable energy capacity and 2 GW of storage by 2030.