Grids & Integration

When coupled to gigawatt-scale solar and wind generation, green hydrogen could be the clean fuel to unlock hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy. But first it must be transported cost-effectively to where it’s needed.

Experts from the Australian National University have published a technical paper in which they argue a doubling of the rate of deployment of solar and wind would cut Australia’s carbon emissions 80% by 2040.

The search for power system security has sparked an Australian first with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) confirming South Australian energy authorities switched off 67 MW of rooftop and large-scale solar PV at the weekend when electricity demand plunged to a near-record low.

Battery storage manufacturer RedEarth has partnered with a major Australian housing developer to offer new-home buyers solar and solar/battery systems tailored to their needs from the get go – and with the opportunity to sell excess energy at optimised prices where the grid needs it most.

Victorian electricity distributors Powercor and Citipower are setting out to alleviate grid congestion in area of high solar penetration, particularly in Western Victoria. The works are designed to increase the ability of rooftop solar owners to export solar to the grid amid the continuing uptake of residential solar.

Smart metering services provider Intellihub cracked the million meter mark this week as the smart meter market in Australia and New Zealand surges off the back of continuing solar uptake.

A “tidal wave” of new solar and wind energy in Australia is poised to wipe out several coal-fired power stations in the National Electricity Market (NEM) with a new report suggesting the financial viability of the fossil-fuel generators will be so severely compromised within five years closure will become an attractive or even unavoidable choice.

Former leader of The Nations, Barnaby Joyce, has put forward an amendment to the Coalition’s legislation for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) which would allow the $10 billion “green bank” to invest in “high intensity, low emissions coal-fired power.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s second State of the System update, a sort of ‘Around-the-Grounds’ of the National Energy Market, has revealed that 2020 set new records for both number of new projects connected and new megawatts of generation.

January normally sees a spike in the average wholesale electricity price. This year, however, increased solar PV and wind generation have seen this traditional trend bucked.