‘No one has attempted this’: Proving a new model to bring solar to low-income Australians through Sydney pilot
A pilot program across Sydney’s suburbs is seeking to prove a model its proponents hope will afford low income Australians access to solar at no upfront cost. The soon to be energised systems have been fitted on 64 disability homes and 90 community houses and will operate using a PPA model. “The poor don’t have the opportunity to put solar on their homes,” BlueCHP CEO, Charles Northcote tells pv magazine Australia. “They lose out because they have to pay all the grid charges… and this has not been addressed by the governments at all at this stage.”
Signals are green for new investment in Australia’s transition to renewables and storage
Australia’s energy challenges are getting a lot of airtime: operational challenges with an ageing thermal fleet; global gas shortages sparked by the war in Ukraine sending prices skyrocketing; the rising cost of power bills; the decreasing reliability and impending retirements of coal generation, and the pressing need for firming/storage solutions.
Rugby Run Solar Farm leads utility scale PV performances in August
Indian mining giant Adani’s Rugby Run Solar Farm has been ranked the best performing large-scale PV asset in the country for the month of August as Queensland’s solar farms continued to dominate the latest ratings tables.
How to get to 100% emissions-free electricity
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is exploring different paths to 100% emissions-free electricity in the United States.
Solid-state hydrogen storage techniques at a glance
Scientists compared hydrogen storage techniques and found that physical methods are closer to commercial feasibility, while materials-based techniques have strong potential.
‘New lithium province’: miners find significant lithium potential in WA’s Goldfields
WA company St George Mining has found indications its nickel project in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia could also be home to “significant” amounts of lithium. The discovery sits alongside recent findings from miners Red Dirt Metals, Zenith Minerals and Hancock, Hawthorn Resources.
Spanish giant to invest $4.4 billion in Australian renewables, naming it ‘key market’
Spanish company Iberdrola has committed to investing between €2 billion to €3 billion (AU$2.95b – $4.4b) in renewable projects in Australia, aiming for a 4 GW portfolio here “in the coming years.”
Fortescue’s 2 GW electrolyser factory is just the beginning
Newly appointed CEO of Fortescue Future Industries Mark Hutchinson has made it clear that demand for green hydrogen has already far outstripped the company’s upcoming 2 GW electrolyser factory in Gladstone, Queensland. The announcement of new investments in green hydrogen plants from Fortescue Future Industries is now expected in the near future.
Rapid-charging solid-state battery moves toward commercialisation
US researchers have developed a new solid-state lithium-metal battery, and China’s SVOLT has started producing prototype solid-state cells. Toyota, meanwhile, has revealed plans to invest billions of dollars in battery production.
Zinc8 to manufacture its first zinc-air batteries in US market
Canadian battery developer Zinc8 Energy Solutions has announced plans to begin battery production in the United States, incentivised by manufacturing production credits in the US Inflation Reduction Act.
