Technology

South Australian technology company EntX has been granted a license to explore salt deposits along the western side of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia for the purpose of hydrogen storage.

Sarcos has designed a robotic PV construction solution that delivers, detects, lifts, and places PV modules in large-scale solar plants. It has recently field tested and validated the prototype solution in a pilot project funded by the US Department of Energy.

Seeking to commercialise hydrogen technology developed by the University of Western Australia, Perth-based Hazer Group has entered into a somewhat vague agreement with Japan’s Chubu Electric Power Company and engineering firm Chiyoda Corporation.

Scientists in Italy have looked at how flywheel storage and reversible solid oxide cells could be integrated with lithium-ion batteries in minigrids powered by solar. They found that flywheels combined with batteries could be the cheapest option for power smoothing.

Stanford University researchers have created a model to assess how much compressed air storage capacity might be needed for the deep decarbonisation of power systems, while compensating for the variability of wind and solar-based power systems. They applied the model to California’s energy system and found that compressed air could be very competitive on a dollars-per-kilowatt-hour basis.

Community opposition to renewable projects tends to be dismissed as NIMBY-ism, an attitude of not-in-my-back-yard. To do so fails to recognise the character and potential claws of the globally growing movement, as well as the renewable sectors’ own role in rearing resentments. Australian reporter Bella Peacock investigates the emotional thread that ties the particularities of opposition movements together, and ways developers can defuse the charge.

A South Australian racecourse has now become a fully operational DC-coupled solar and battery farm. The Berri Energy Project, owned by retailer Flow Power, is part of the company’s strategy to build up to 50 MW of mid-scale (sub 5 MW) projects to supplement its offtake portfolio, Flow Power COO Byron Serjeanston told pv magazine Australia.

Before beginning BESS design, it’s important to understand auxiliary power design, site layout, cable sizing, grounding system and site communications design.

Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy says that hydrogen pipelines will be “far better” than vessels at moving hydrogen over short- and medium-range distances in the years ahead.

San Miguel, which is now behind on its original plan to deliver a 1 GW/1 GWh fleet of battery energy storage systems (BESS) by the end of 2022, continues to roll out big batteries across 32 sites in the Philippines, in order to integrate up to 5 GW of renewables into the island nation’s grid.