Sustainability

Mining giant BHP is poised to finalise a “bespoke” renewable energy agreement with the Australian arm of Spanish energy group Iberdrola for the 317 MW Port August Renewable Energy Park in South Australia to supply up to 50% of the miner’s electricity needs for its Olympic Dam mining operation.

The New South Wales government at long last released its hydrogen strategy today. The wait, according to hydrogen expert Andrew Horvath, has been worthwhile. He described the strategy as clever in its approach to drawing longterm hydrogen investment into the state. “It’s a little bit different the way [NSW] looked at it,” he told pv magazine Australia, refuting the strategy’s branding as less ambitious than other states.

With technological progress, falling costs, and favourable subsidies all incentivising Australian households to replace serviceable modules and upgrade their rooftop array, a stockpile of useable second-hand modules is mounting. But efforts to embrace reuse rather than refuse are taking shape.

The proposed $3.5 billion Marinus Link interconnector between Tasmania and the Australian mainland has reached a significant milestone with “critical” environmental referrals being lodged with the federal and Victorian governments.

On Monday, an Australian–Japanese consortium announced plans to potentially develop a $1 billion plus ‘low emissions’ hydrogen project in Western Australia. The announcement was preceded by a year of gas companies loudly declaring schemes to blend hydrogen into their pipelines. Clearly, many powerful Australian are putting their money on a like-for-like transition. pv magazine Australia spoke to hydrogen experts Andrew Horvath and Scott Hamilton about how they see the hydrogen wave evolving, and why a clean swap is unlikely.

On Sunday, Australia set a new record for minimum operational demand, with the national grid dipping below 14 GW. Renewables met 55% of that, while rooftop solar accounted for 34%.

Converting all home appliances and cars to run on electricity could save Australian households $40 billion a year by 2028, according to a new report from thinktank Rewiring Australia, the work of Australian-American entrepreneur Saul Griffith.

Melbourne-based public transport company Kinetic has been awarded a $2.3 billion contract by the Victorian government to replace more than half the city’s fleet with low or zero-emissions vehicles by 2031.

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.

Rose Amal arrived in Australia from Indonesia 38 years ago to study at UNSW. Now her leadership and research are contributing to a new sustainable economy for Australia and clean fuels for energy-hungry industries.