Grids & Integration

Australia’s first coordinated renewable energy zone is to be built in the New South Wales central west with the state government revealing the Central-West Orana REZ, which will deliver at least 3 GW of renewable energy into the grid, has been formally declared.

Embarrassing Australia on the world stage is one of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s favourite marketing ploys. But while the federal government continues to fail its constituents, particularly those in rural communities, those rural communities themselves are taking the energy transition into their own hands, along with the ownership of their own solar generation.

Overwhelmed by interest in its proposed Central-Orana Renewable Energy Zone and then in the New England REZ, the New South Wales Government has now opened the floodgates to the South-West.

Over recent years, the energy industry has been working hard to provide the structure and a regulatory framework for a market that recognises the value of coordinated demand response. Today marked the second wave — after the opening of the FCAS market in 2017 — of opportunity for organisations to trade their flexible electricity loads on the wholesale electricity market. The resulting efficiency gains are an important piece of the energy transition puzzle.

Western Australia grid operator Western Power is expanding its microgrid strategy as it aims to improve the resilience and reliability of electricity supply in regional communities, calling for registrations of interest to develop a renewables-based disconnected microgrid capable of powering a small rural town.

Big rooftop PV systems on factories, warehouses and public buildings need not be limited by ownership issues nor local grid capacity, claims Australian innovator EleXsys Energy. The company is maxing out an Ikea in Adelaide, Australia, with solar and storage. And it claims its smart technology can allow the same to be done elsewhere.

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.

The first big battery to stand alone without government support, Bouldercombe Battery Project capitalises on Genex Power’s experience gained on the road to Kidston Clean Energy Hub.

Nothing if not critical, the 900 km renewable energy transporter is inching towards shovel time. This weekend ElectraNet awarded transmission and substation contracts for South Australia’s piece of the electron super highway to Australia’s National Electricity Market.

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.