Grids & Integration

The Clean Energy Innovation Hub has hit a major milestone as ATCO started testing blending renewable hydrogen into the on-site natural gas network in Jandakot.

Scientists from Penn State University have developed a self-heating battery for electric vehicles which is said charge in only 10 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has come together with private sector infrastructure fund manager Infradebt to invest in smaller utility-scale renewable energy projects for community and commercial energy users. The move aims to close an investment gap for projects of 25 MW or less.

Peer-to-peer energy trading (P2P), the signature of Power Ledger and already a recognised Australian digital export, is set to be installed into nine apartments in Perth’s eastern suburbs. The development’s integration with smart energy trading technology will allow the space to share a solar PV system and SENEC battery.

Western Australia’s (WA) publicly-owned grid operator, Western Power, has announced its largest battery is on its way to Kalbarri. The battery, the biggest utility-scale battery ever to be connected to the Western grid network, departed from Perth today on its way north to the laid-back coastal town.

The new StorEnergy centre – supported with a $4.4 million Federal Government grant – will produce battery materials on a commercial scale and seek to increase knowledge and develop innovative solutions for Australia’s energy needs.

To fill the gap left by retiring coal-fired plants, the Australian Energy Market Operator forecasts that Australia should invest in a further 30-47 GW of new large-scale wind and solar projects by 2040. At the end of the outlook period, AEMO projects that distributed energy resources could provide up to 13% to 22% of total underlying annual NEM energy consumption.

Japan’s second-largest utility KEPCO has extended a demonstration project with Australia’s pioneer in P2P energy trading Power Ledger to create and track renewable energy certificates and trade PV-generated electricity.

Labelled as a state significant development, the Maryvale Solar Farm has received a regulatory nod, opening the way for construction work to begin. The project is owned by Photon Energy, Canadian Solar and Polpo Investments.

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) CEO Audrey Zibelman has turned heads at the Smart Energy Council’s National Smart Energy Summit in Sydney, saying that by 2040, 25% of Australia’s electricity will be produced by rooftop solar PV.