Technology

Australian renewables developer Edify Energy is planning to take advantage of existing infrastructure to maximise its access to the national electricity grid by building a 200 MW solar farm and four-hour duration battery energy storage system near the Callide coal-fired power station in central Queensland.

It’s time to assess curtailment, as rising amounts of excess generation are being wasted in several markets. This can be problematic for the solar industry but Toby Couture and David Jacobs, coordinators of think tank Global Solar PV Brain Trust, argue that curtailment is not always bad.

Germany-headquartered Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions has teamed up with Australian solar and long-duration storage company RayGen to deliver automated solutions that accelerate heliostat assembly.

United States-headquartered startup Planted Solar uses construction robots and high-density arrays to deliver what the company says are higher energy outputs per hectare and lower balance of system costs.

Over the next three years energy retailer and tech company Amber Electric will trial a software solution for electric vehicle smart charging and bi-directional vehicle-to-grid services to enable consumers using their cars can buy and sell energy to the grid.

Long duration energy storage developer MGA Thermal is one step closer to commissioning its behind-the-meter demonstration plant after receiving a $2.48 million windfall from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

The first of 18 electric buses to be manufactured in Perth as part of a joint $250 million Western Australian and federal government initiative has been rolled out as the state pushes ahead with plans to decarbonise its public transport system.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has dangled a $100 million carrot in front of the world’s best and brightest solar industry proponents to help lower solar and electricity costs to scale up annual installation in Australia from 5 GW per year to 50 GW.

A “nation first” local renewable energy zone will be established on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast as part of a pilot program designed to boost rooftop solar generation, store it and share it locally across the poles and wires infrastructure that already exists.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has eased forecasts of a looming capacity shortfall in Western Australia’s main electricity grid but has warned of the need for “substantial and sustained” investment in renewables to replace coal-fired power stations and meet surging demand from customers electrifying their operations.