Sustainability

Australian fossil fuels giant Woodside will invest in US-based concentrated solar startup Heliogen, supporting its construction of a full-scale concentrated solar thermal demonstration plant in California ahead of a push into Australia.

Traditionally one of the slower states to move away from fossil fuels, New South Wales is rapidly turning the tables – and the market is responding enthusiastically. The state government yesterday revealed it had received more than $4 billion worth of investment interest for its Hunter and Illawarra hydrogen hubs.

Electric vehicle batteries are packed with energy, with additional battery density and efficiency working to quell range anxiety for drivers. But with that capability lingers a concern from some that EVs may pose a fire risk and a challenge for first responders in the event of accidents. Western Australia’s Professor Ray Wills from Future Smart Strategies bought his first EV in 2012 and argues that in terms of safety, EVs remain an easily superior vehicle, and even the tiny fire risk that exists is an ever-diminishing issue.

The extensive power outages experienced in Western Australia last Christmas were a result of extreme weather rather than human failure, an independent review has found. The report’s author, AEMC’s Michelle Shepherd, notes such instances will likely become increasingly frequent with climate change.

Nextracker has today launched its new terrain-following, single-axis tracker built specifically for projects on sloped, uneven, and challenging sites. Nextracker believes its new NX Horizon-XTR line will be market-shaping, especially in countries like Australia where opposition to land disturbances of utility-scale solar is growing.

Vattenfall, SSAB and LKAB have reached the halfway point in the construction of a rock cavern storage facility in a coastal city in northern Sweden. The 100-cubic-metre facility is being constructed 30 metre below ground and will begin storing green hydrogen next year.

New Zealand’s federal government has opened the final funding round in its NZ$14 million (AU$13 million) Māori Housing Renewable Energy Fund, open to small and larger-scale projects.

Sydney’s Bay Port will soon be offering 100% renewably sourced power to docked ships, a world first for a dry-bulk precinct and the first in the Southern Hemisphere for a cruise terminal.

Given the goings-on in the world this last quarter, Mike Jefferies, Investment Manager at Octopus Investments Australia, takes a look at the current macroeconomic environment, how this is tied to energy markets, the impacts Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on that energy market, what this could mean for Australia and how renewables could help address these issues.

The international development entity has already invested $1 billion in local, off-grid electricity networks over the last decade – and attracted a further $1.1 billion in matched funding – and wants to set up mini-grids to supply electricity to 490 million people by 2030.