Technology

Australian natural hydrogen explorer Gold Hydrogen plans to start drilling on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula later this year after early testing at its maiden Ramsay project site detected the presence of naturally occurring hydrogen in soil samples.

The SeaVolt consortium says it will launch an offshore floating PV demonstrator off the Belgian port of Ostend. The main companies – Tractebel, DEME, Equans and Jan De Nul – say the anchored floating array will collect data for at least a year to scale up the tech.

A grid-connected community battery has gone live in Sydney’s western suburbs with New South Wales electricity distributor Endeavour Energy trialling the technology as a means to maximise the benefits of rooftop solar generation and more efficiently manage supply and demand in the network.

Scientists in China have proposed to use an algorithm that simulates the behaviour of foraging bees to shape a new grid-forming inverter design. The approach is designed for both grid-connected and islanded inverters.

Installation robots are moving from test centres to the field. American technology companies Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation and Terabase Energy recently announced key business developments.

Transgrid, Australia’s major grid operator, plans to soon launch a competitive process to procure grid support services from third-party battery operators as it looks beyond traditional network infrastructure to help maintain the reliability of electricity supply in two growth regions in New South Wales.

Construction of Australia’s largest electricity transmission project continues to roll on with network operator ElectraNet announcing it has achieved more than 70% completion of the South Australian component of the 900-kilometre EnergyConnect project that will link power grids across three states.

United States-based battery startup Nuvola Technology says it has developed a direct deposition polymer separator technology that can eliminate the primary cause of lithium-ion battery fires.

The volume and complexity of data generated by renewables sites is growing, as are the regulatory requirements regarding its collection and delivery. Thomas Andersen, VP of renewables for U.S.-based engineer Emerson, explains how modern asset management systems can deliver better functionality and management to project operators and owners.

Queensland electric vehicle charging technology startup Evos has unveiled its first home charger, a 7 kW wall-mounted device designed to add up to 35 kilometres of range to an electric vehicle for every hour it’s plugged in.