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In light of the Morrison Government committing another $94 million to Marinus Link, Cornwall Insight Australia Senior Analyst, Jake Dunstan, asks whether Tasmania can do both; support the mainland and develop a renewable hydrogen industry locally.

Powertracer is a new Australian-developed data platform that accounts for the origins of each retail customer’s energy in half-hour blocks. The effect is to open up new models of choosing and offering renewably sourced energy, and accelerate demand.

A small number of utility-scale PV arrays of an entirely different nature are taking shape Down Under. Over the past six years, Aussie solar startup 5B has been developing and deploying its pre-assembled and relocatable Maverick mounting structures “on a shoestring budget.” But with a major solar developer having joined as a strategic investor, the company is now looking to make prefabricated arrays a mainstream option for utility-scale PV.

Mining company Centennial Coal has received more than $5 million in government funding to investigate the feasibility of turning an old underground coal mine near Newcastle into a pumped hydro storage site which could supply 600 MW of renewable energy to the grid.

An award-winning Australian solar-powered ‘water battery’ has been lauded as an unmitigated success with figures from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) revealing the system generated more than 3 GWh of electricity in its first 12 months of operation.

Australian gold mining company Gold Road Resources will be relying on a ‘state-of-the-art’ renewable energy system as it continues operations at its Yamarna exploration camp about 1,200 kilometres east of Perth.

The world is still combating Covid-19, with Europe now impacted by a second wave of the virus. While the market reported delays for a few projects, the impacts on the PV sector remain unclear. But if the world fails to curb the Covid-19’s spread, governments may be forced to reintroduce strict measures, thereby sapping PV demand. PV InfoLink’s Mars Chang expects module demand to hit 126 GW by the end of this year.

Australia has cemented its place at the vanguard of the solar energy industry with a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report confirming the nation has the highest installed solar PV capacity per capita in the world.

The Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission Project has been declared a ‘Critical State Significant Infrastructure’ project, with the New South Wales Government granting it priority status throughout the approvals process.

Construction is set to commence on one of the largest behind-the-meter solar power installations in Australia with Beon Energy Solutions to begin work next month on a 19 MW solar farm at Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP).