News

Australian renewable energy developer Genex Power has bought Queensland’s Bulli Creek storage project from Solar Choice, saying it plans to develop the site in five stages – the first of which will include a 400 MW / 1,600 MWh big battery.

In a bit more bad news for everyone already struggling with the current energy crisis, modelling from Cornwall Insight Australia forecasts that prices will remain at increasingly high levels for the next three years, after which they will flatten but are not likely to lose their volatility in the longer term.

An international team of scientists developed a nanoparticle structure which, when added to a solar cell, was shown to scatter light and potentially reflect it many times within the cell, contributing to a noticeable jump in current.

Energy company Shell has completed the acquisition of Solenergi Power, an Actis company owning 100% of Indian renewables developer Sprng Energy. The transaction value is US$1.55 billion (AU$2.22 billion), with half as cash Capex and the remainder as debt obligations.

Horizon Power, the state government owned electricity provider for much of regional Western Australia, is set to rollout energy management technology which integrates the utility’s assets with distributed energy resources. The technology, which uses predictive analytics, hopes to unlock access to renewables in the regions.

US engineering company Bechtel will support planning for proposed Queensland pumped hydro and energy storage facility, Big-T, at Lake Cressbrook in the state’s southeast. The project involves a 400 MW pumped hydro facility with 10 hours of storage and a 200 MW/200 MWh battery system.

Bringing on board gas giants APA Group, Inpex Corporation, Osaka Gas and distributor Jemena, AGL and Fortescue Future Industries say their Hunter Valley coal to hydrogen hub conversions could be as large as 2 GW – though the insistence on green hydrogen does appear somewhat muddied by the new partnerships.

Miner Rio Tinto has received offers to build more than 4 GW of solar and wind capacity after the company sought proposals to help it cut carbon emissions at its Queensland operations.

New research from Stanford University researcher Mark Jacobson outlines how 145 countries could meet 100% of their business-as-usual energy needs with wind, water, solar and energy storage. The study finds that in all the countries considered, lower-cost energy and other benefits mean the required investment for transition is paid off within six years. The study also estimates that worldwide, such a transition would create 28 million more jobs than it lost.

Scientists in Japan have developed a novel metal-organic, framework-based magnesium ion conductor with superionic conductivity, even at room temperature.