News

The developers of a $5 million community-driven solar farm in the New South Wales Shoalhaven region believe the 3.9 MWp facility can serve as a model for other communities looking to launch their own renewable projects.

Australian energy storage company VSUN Energy claims to have identified the ‘missing piece of the renewable energy jigsaw’ after successfully testing a standalone electric vehicle battery charger using solar PV supplied by a vanadium redox flow battery.

A new Ernst & Young power and utilities overview report shows that utilities and other deep-pocketed investors are putting financial support behind their environmental, social and governance initiatives.

The 41 MW facility was built by Korean developer Scotra with solar modules provided by South Korea-based manufacturer Hanwha Q-Cells. It was deployed on a water reservoir at the Hapcheon dam, in the South Gyeongsang province.

Ongoing growth in both renewable generation capacity, including rooftop solar, large-scale wind and solar, and dispatchable power in the form of big batteries is expected to drive down household power bills across the National Electricity Market in the coming years despite the impending closure of several of Australia’s ageing fossil-fuel fired power stations.

Australian governments and industry have embraced the potential of green hydrogen with a flurry of project announcements, including the Western Australian Government providing almost $120 million to establish two renewable hydrogen hubs, Edify Energy signing of Memorandum of Understanding to explore the feasibility of establishing a hydrogen export facility in Queensland, and the Federal Government collaborate with Germany on a new initiative designed to accelerate the development of Australia’s green hydrogen industry.

Spark Infrastructure looks set to be sold off with the Foreign Investment Review Board giving its tick of approval for a North American consortium led by private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to acquire the Australian electricity network operator.

Hydrostor’s plant would be able to deliver 400 MW of electricity for 8 hours, and would be comparable in size to some of California’s largest fossil fuel power plants.

Independent battery performance and reliability tester ITP Renewables has been running its trial of solar storage batteries since 2016. Over the years one of the broad conclusions to be drawn is that home storage systems are by no means reliable across the board. However, some few systems stand out, including Fimer’s hybrid solar inverter and storage solution, the React 2.

As Australia, like much of the world, battles shortfalls in supply with solar module prices rising and Chinese companies’ stocks decreasing, the country’s only manufacturer, Tindo Solar, has opted to release emergency stocks. Likewise, Chinese giant Longi is working to guarantee supply for Australia, saying its vertical integration has afforded it extra security.