News

There’s nothing simple about the Australian electricity system in transition. The constantly shifting landscape requires continuous regulatory adjustment to old coal-fired settings. That, too is fraught. One network services provider gives their perspective on the rule change currently under consideration.

Alliances with Germany and Japan to develop and commercialise emissions-reducing technologies would be a coup for Australia, if there were any concerted efforts at home to reduce emissions in line with international initiatives, and transition Australian industries to be competitive in a carbon-pricing world.

Climate and energy specialists at the Australian National University have published a working paper on the data that will create a set of indicators to quantify the progress of Australia’s energy system transition. Initial findings show that despite renewables-driven strides in electricity supply, reductions in emissions have come from elsewhere, and the transport, industry and buildings sectors are dragging the country backwards.

Scientists in Germany fabricated an all-manganese flow battery, which they say serves as a proof of concept for the potential of such devices. Their results working with various battery configurations show that cheap, abundant manganese has plenty of potential for flow battery applications; and is worthy of further investigation in the frame of developing sustainable energy storage technologies.

A €4.8 million (AU$7.5 million) EU-funded research project is aiming to develop a process that allows recovering all components of a photovoltaic module.

Since July 2020, the PV industry has been experiencing price rises, which have affected almost all the components in a solar system. As these price increases spill out into higher installation costs, we see end user prices for solar rising for the first time in 10 years, threatening the competitiveness of PV in certain markets. Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai on solar manufacturing’s supply chain crisis.

Australia’s success with widespread residential take-up of solar PV installations may be facing a stumbling block, a new proposal by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), the rule maker of the nation’s grid. And for solar veterans, the development summons the ghoul of Spain’s infamous “sun tax.”

South Korean solar module maker LG Electronics has unveiled a new range of solar panels for residential and commercial PV projects which it has described as the most reliable and efficient renewable energy solution it has yet created.

Telecommunications giant Telstra has continued it transition to renewable energy, signing a long-term agreement to purchase electricity from the Crookwell 3 Wind Farm being built near Goulburn in New South Wales.

Japan’s biggest oil refiner Eneos and Tokyo-based trading house Sojitz have entered the large-scale solar sector in Australia, announcing they will build a 204 MW solar farm in Queensland.