News

There is enormous demand for renewables to enter the grid, and for power purchase agreements to make use of them. However, as more renewables feed into the grid at intermittent periods, the risk of “revenue cannibalisation” increases. Swiss consultancy Pexapark’s latest report looks at the “cannibalisation effect” and how the solar PPA market can adapt.

As Australia’s energy crisis deepens with Queensland and NSW again cautioned over potential blackouts in the coming hours, director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Bruce Mountain, told pv magazine Australia commentators have underplayed the extent to which energy generators have exacerbated the emergency. Government intervening to take charge of the energy market is, for him, the most likely outcome as generators withholding capacity increasingly threatens to cause massive losses in state economies.

Edify Energy has completed the financing for its grid forming 150 MW / 300 MWh battery energy storage system. The system will be made up of three separate batteries in the Riverina region of NSW which have gained approval to operate in ‘virtual synchronous generator’ mode.

Selected projects will be awarded a fixed rate under a 20-year contract under the country’s renewable energy certificate (REC) scheme and will sell electricity to local power distributors.

Japan’s Rinnai has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first 100% hydrogen combustion technology for residential water heaters. It is currently using the hydrogen water heater in demonstration projects in Australia, prior to commercialisation.

The US multinational will expand the solar and battery energy storage manufacturing capacity at its factory in Tamil Nadu to 9 GW per annum by the end of 2022. The factory manufactures the FlexInverter power conversion solution and the FlexReservoir utility-scale energy storage systems.

Australia’s uptake of rooftop solar is one of the highest in the world with more than 30% of free-standing households across the nation now fitted with a PV system but the Clean Energy Regulator has revealed a “steep decline” in the number of installations in early 2022 with deteriorating economics playing a major part.

Solar installers and resellers can now access up to $250,000 on interest-free terms to increase their stocks of Australian-made solar panels after PV module manufacturer Tindo Solar teamed with business financer Moula Pay.

Scientists in the United States have developed a new model to allow utilities to use grid-forming inverters in order to better manage renewable energy intermittency. They describe the inverter main circuit representation, the droop control, and the fault current limiting function.

The Queensland government has committed $48 million to progress two pumped hydro projects in the state, declaring energy storage will play a critical role in its push towards a renewable energy future.