Grids & Integration

University of New South Wales’ Professor Joe Dong, the grid-guru overseeing some of the most innovative and integral research projects determining Australia’s trajectory to a grid energised by renewables, has been nominated for the Global Energy Prize.

The forecast for the ACT is two big batteries and gale-force winds as the territory’s Government awarded two considerable contracts in its latest ‘reverse auction’, including a 14-year contract with Neoen, the first for its massive Goyder Renewables Zone. 

Around 4.2 MWh of energy storage capacity will be connected to a solar and diesel micro-grid on Rarotonga, the largest of the islands in the South Pacific nation. Three 40-foot containers with a total power output of 4.8 MVA will be used as a power reserve and for grid support by utility Te Aponga Uira.

Solar curtailment might become a valuable aspect of future PV deployment, particularly if grid operators start focusing on ‘curtailment management’ instead of ‘curtailment prevention.’ Management would include measures such as flexible generation, storage, load flexibility, and regional coordination.

After being ignored by the Federal Government, Queensland has announced a $500 million Renewable Energy Fund for state-owned energy corporations to invest in commercial renewable project and infrastructure, a particular complement to QLD’s three pending Renewable Energy Zones.

The move by Standards Australia has set the stage for Australia to play an important role in the growing hydrogen economy. Eight international standards for hydrogen were adopted in the process. The time is now, argues the Australian Hydrogen Council Fiona Simon, for these standards to be adopted into regulations to enable a new hydrogen export industry.

Almost a third of Australians are locked behind the solar barrier, they’re renters, tenants, urban apartment-dwellers who don’t have the luxury of installing their own solar PV. However, now city-dwellers can participate in the solar transition too, by becoming members of the Haystacks Solar Garden which operates in much the same way as community garden.

New analysis from The Australian National University along with recently published figures from the Clean Energy Regulator demonstrate that Australia remains the world leader in wind and solar deployment per capita, particularly rooftop PV. However, federal policy is failing to invest in desperately needed infrastructural upgrades.

The 50% expansion of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve, otherwise known as the Tesla Big Battery, has been successfully completed. If testing of the upgraded battery goes well, Hornsdale could begin to function with an expanded remit of synthetic inertia services, a capability which could have significant impact on regulatory changes.

A University of South Australia study has demonstrated that while solar panels in Australia are typically installed facing north to catch most of the sun’s arc, if you’re looking to export your solar into the grid you should really be orientating your panels to minimise the discrepancy between the times of peak use and peak production.