Genex heads underground on 250 MW/2 GWh pumped hydro project
Renewable energy developer Genex Power has announced that construction of a bold engineering project that will transform a retired gold mine site in north Queensland into a 250 MW/2 GWh pumped hydro energy storage facility is now ahead of schedule with underground works having commenced.
Utility scale ocean battery, a bedfellow for floating PV
A new underwater battery storage technology is coming from Netherlands-based Ocean Grazer to address the issue of offshore long-duration storage. The company’s Ocean Battery is touted as innovative yet simple, based on existing technology, and capable of enhancing marine life along the way.
How to convert coal mine goaves into pumped hydro storage facilities
According to Chinese researchers, using abandoned coal mine goaves for pumped hydro facilities in combination with large scale solar and wind is not only technically feasible but can also provide an efficiency of 82.8% in yearly operation cases. They applied the model to wind and solar-rich northwestern and southwestern China.
Tasmania chases $70 million for transmission link failure
The Tasmanian government is taking legal action against the owners of the Basslink Interconnector, seeking to recover more than $70 million owed because of a lengthy outage six years ago.
BE Power steps up plans for 400 MW pumped hydro project
Australian renewable energy developer BE Power will continue to progress plans to construct a 400 MW pumped hydro storage project near Toowoomba in southeast Queensland after the local government authority gave the project its tick of approval.
Aussie scientists champion closed-loop pumped hydro
Closed-loop pumped-hydro storage offers more chances to minimise environmental effects on water sources and overcomes the problem of finding suitable sites. According to an Australian research team, closed-loop systems could prevail on open-loop systems in the future and this trend is confirmed by another group of scientists from the United States.
EnergyAustralia eyes pumped hydro to replace coal power plant
The last of the New South Wales coal-fired power plants will be shut by 2040 at the latest after electricity gen-tailer EnergyAustralia announced it would bring forward the closure date of its 1.4 GW Mt Piper power station by two years.
Large-scale renewable investment may be trending up; rooftop PV surges on!
The Clean Energy Regulator has issued its second Quarterly Carbon Market Report for the year. Despite Covid and justified investor caution on big renewable projects, indicators from small- and large-scale energy certificate accounting show steady growth.
Pumped hydro and solar projects progress Queensland’s energy transition
Queensland’s transition to a renewable energy future is set to progress with the state government calling for tenders for the proposed 1 GW Borumba Dam pumped hydro energy storage project while work on a nearby 176 MW solar farm has also reached a new milestone.
Marinus Link bolstered by new reports attesting its potential benefit across NEM, but who should pay?
New reports and modelling has led TasNetworks to further push its largest of four possible Marinus Link versions. The largest, a 1,500 MW interconnector between Tasmania and the Australian mainland, is being shown to provide benefits across the entire NEM through grid stability and downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. But there is still some discussion about who should pay for it.
