Sustainability

Blacktown City Council and Inner West Council are not wasting any time when it comes to meeting their carbon-neutrality and solar uptake goals. Both councils are currently in the process of doubling their current solar capacity in single swoops.

Your Energy Partner is a solar broker that matches clients and solar retailers around Australia. The company, only launched in May 2019, is rising rapidly, partly thanks to its attitude to social media which encourages young first home buyers. YEP sat down with pv magazine Australia for a Q&A.

SA Water’s great solar splash of 2020 continues with the completion of one installation on Eyre Peninsula and the beginning of another, much larger installation, at the Happy Valley Reservoir.

The construction of Coles’ state-of-the-art ripening facility in Melbourne is complete with the installation of a 600 kW system. The energy-efficient facility is able to ripen fruit from North Queensland as needed, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and food wastage.

Western Australia’s Recovery Plan continues to grow greenery as more renewable aspects of the state’s stimulus package come to light, specifically solar light that is. The state government has committed $22 million toward nine green hydrogen initiatives across the state, while also bringing forward its Renewable Hydrogen Strategy targets a decade and topping up the green hydrogen fund.

Weir Minerals Australia, a supplier of engineered solutions to the mining industry, has achieved electricity price stability and savings, and taken a first big leap towards sustainability with the signing of an innovative power purchase agreement with energy provider Engie.

As Covid-19 decimates the aviation industry, Melbourne Airport is set to make significant savings on its energy costs with the installation of a 12.4 MW solar farm, one of Australia’s largest behind-the-meter arrays, which will be able to power all four of the airport’s terminals.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCA), a shareholder advocacy group, has filed a Shareholder Resolution to AGL Energy calling for the expedited closure of its Bayswater and Loy Yang A coal-fired power stations. ACCA says that AGL’s own modelling contradicts both its climate commitment and its fiduciary responsibility.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is set to become the cornerstone investor in a BNP Paribas’ issuance $140 million in new Australian green bonds through its Australian Climate Transition Index, an index for investors to parse the companies that will survive and thrive into a decarbonised future from those who will decay and die.

The Schools Virtual Power Plant pilot project, part of the WA Government’s $66.3 million investment in solar and batteries in its WA Recovery Plan from the impacts of Covid-19, will see ten schools transformed into VPPs. The two year trial is expected to bring reduced electricity bills to schools, improved grid stability, and increased solar uptake in the local community.