Grids & Integration

In a bid to seek resolution of all disputed claims, Windlab has reached a standstill agreement with the EPC contractor on the Kennedy Energy Park, Australia’s first project on a major grid to combine wind, solar and battery technologies.

As the survival of the fittest continues in Australia’s notoriously competitive EPC market, the Sydney-based diversified infrastructure company has signaled that it will no longer bid fixed prices to build solar.

Against the backdrop of extreme heat, generator, and transmission line outages and intense bushfires, revenues for grid-scale batteries on the National Electricity Market (NEM) have been trending upwards.

Grid-scale wind and solar output reached new highs in Q4 last year pushing power prices to a three-year low despite a number of coal-fired generator outages. As Australia’s big PV fleet continues to expand, the National Electricity Market saw the highest output of big PV on record, but also record curtailment.

Synergy and Western Power’s PowerBank trial has reached another milestone with the integration of a utility-scale community battery into Perth’s major metropolitan network.

From July 1, if it is run by the City of Adelaide, it is being powered by wind and solar electricity under a landmark power purchase agreement inked electricity retailer Flow Power.

As Australia continues to battle horrific bushfires, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a renewed focus on gas-fired electricity to reduce emissions and lower energy prices. This is a dangerous and completely unnecessary route.

An energy deal struck between the Morrison and Berejiklian governments that will see more than $2 billion invested to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector has prompted a flurry of reactions that boil down to two conflicting interpretations of its purpose.

In yet another confirmation of a dramatic drop in spending on large-scale renewables in Australia, a new analysis by the Clean Energy Council reveals a fall from 51 projects worth $10.7 billion in 2018 down to 28 projects worth $4.5 billion in 2019. Mounting regulatory risks, under-investment in transmission and policy uncertainty are the main reasons behind investment slow-down, which is set to put greater pressure on reliability and power prices as Australia’s old coal-fired power stations continue to close.

Germany-based Wirtgen Invest has entered the large-scale Aussie solar market with the purchase of the 140 MW Glenrowan West Solar Farm, a significant project considering its location in one of the 2020 Integrated System Plan’s Renewable Energy Zones.