Technology

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.

With electric vehicles making up only 3% of the global car market last year, analyst WoodMac says battery packs need to be cheaper and lighter and range anxiety must be addressed to change the habits of drivers.

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.

Perth-based Australian Vanadium has received another boost from the Federal Government with the award of a further $1.25 million research and development grant to fund research into improving vanadium processing.

West Australian peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading pioneer Power Ledger has won a lucrative contract with Alperia SpA, one of Italy’s largest renewable electricity utilities.

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.

Australian researchers have unveiled hydrogenation technology to reduce light and elevated temperature-induced degradation in Czochralski silicon PERC solar cells. The developers say the process can minimize degradation without sacrificing performance in cells and modules.

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.