Sustainability

Australia’s first large-scale solar garden will be officially launched in the New South Wales Riverina town of Grong Grong with hundreds of ‘gardeners’ on hand to celebrate the milestone that has allowed people previously locked out of rooftop PV to access the benefits of solar.

The first stage of Acen Australia’s planned 720 MW New England Solar Farm is home to more than 6,000 sheep that are grazing beneath the panels in a proof-of-concept agrivoltaics project that has no-one sitting on the fence regarding the results.

As the Australian authorities launch rolling tenders for 32 GW of renewables and storage by 2030, it has become clear that some communities have not been brought onside. Heated debate on social media and a frenzy stoked by concerns about the impact on the natural environment are throwing up hurdles for renewables development.

Australian project manager SGC will partner with French company SMO to install 100 MW of solar waste-to-energy systems in Australia. They aim to deploy a total of 50 waste-to-energy units in the next three years, with plans to scale up to 1 GW in the future.

The Ballarat Energy Network is on track to decentralise the regional city’s electricity network with a long-term view to supply the Victorian community’s 120,000 residents with 100% renewable energy generated by local distributed energy resources.

Former federal energy minister Greg Combet has indicated the May Budget will unleash big bucks for the next stage of Australia’s renewable energy transition, underwriting the nation’s charge to become a global wind, solar and green hydrogen superpower.

A team of researchers in Queensland have calculated the levelised cost of green hydrogen under different installed capex scenarios for 2030. They also looked into the different possible sizing of PEM electrolysers.

The need for long-duration energy storage in a net-zero world is undeniable but with conventional battery prices tumbling, can anything dislodge the mainstream grip of lithium ion? S&P Global’s Susan Taylor provides an update on non-lithium storage technologies.

A new report has called for large PV waste and recycling facilities to be established in major Australian cities as a matter of priority with solar waste predicted to reach 100,000 tonnes annually, equivalent to 1.2 GW per year, by the end of the decade.

A coalition of community groups have branded the estimated $4.9 billion HumeLink transmission project defective and the New South Wales government reckless to ignore safety and environmental concerns.