Picture dusk falling somewhere in the Solomon Islands. A fisher’s skiff glides home using a whisper-quiet electric outboard motor. In the Cook Islands, a big battery steadies the island grid. In Papua New Guinea’s highlands, solar kits bring electric light to homes for the first time.

It was the news that rippled around the nation – and then the world: at least three hours of free grid-supplied electricity for Australian households, every day.

The last five years have placed unprecedented strain on global supply chains. Geopolitical tensions, trade wars, natural disasters and the global pandemic have revealed vulnerabilities across industries.

The AFR Energy and Climate Summit focused on demand and AI’s impact on the grid, but the real question is being overlooked: how do we connect data centres without repeating past mistakes in the energy transition?

Director of CSIRO Mineral Resources Dr Louise Fisher reveals how collaboration across research, industry and government is driving decarbonisation, digital transformation and the development of sustainable, globally competitive supply chains for critical minerals.

Three New South Wales energy distributors have collaborated on the state’s first distribution system plan, which they say can sustain five years of energy transition momentum, while waiting for critical transmission infrastructure to be built.

One-in-five, or 20%, of renewable energy developers responding to an Intium grid-connection survey, say it took them two to three years waiting for grid connection approval, and delays are a threat to Australia’s renewable energy targets.

Tesla says its recall and replacement effort stems from a contained battery-cell defect that has raised safety concerns in both the United States and Australia.

Transgrid has issued a progress update on construction of the nation critical 365 km transmission infrastructure project in New South Wales, the HumeLink East and HumeLink West.

Australian energy storage technology company AVESS Energy has completed a $1 million capital raise enabling the progression of projects including vanadium flow battery deployment at the Windimurra Vanadium Project.

Portugese renewable energy giant EDP, through EDP Renewables Australia, has agreed to partner with the Queensland Investment Corporation to deliver the Punchs Creek Renewable Energy Project near Toowoomba.

The New South Wales state government has slashed red rape for owners of state heritage-listed properties who can now install solar panels and batteries without seeking formal approval.

Researchers in the Middle East have developed a fuzzy logic controller that simultaneously optimises the tilt angle of PV systems and performs maximum power point tracking. Year-long simulations indicate that the proposed approach increases power generation by approximately 20%.

Octopus Australia has brought the $900 million Blind Creek Solar Farm and Battery project, a local landholder-partnered agrisolar project, to financial close and into construction

Microgrid developer GenOffGrid has launched a solar, lithium and diesel microgrid to power the Auski Munjina Village roadhouse in the Pilbara, Western Australia, over 1,300 kilometres northeast of Perth.

Australia founded, Texas-headquartered Infravision has appointed former Space X  and energy systems engineer Frank Tybor as chief technology officer as the company leverages its recent $139 million Series B led by GIC.

Ampyr Australia will relocate the 270 MW Davenport battery energy storage system in South Australia under the new name Northern Battery to a decommissioned, coal-fired power station at Port Augusta, after acquiring it from Green Gold Energy.

Spanish energy company Iberdrola, which has a total installed capacity in Australia of 2.3 GW, has been selected to develop the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West, or VNI West transmission line.

Project EnergyConnect, the high voltage interconnector under construction between South Australia and New South Wales has seen the Dinawan substation located in the Riverina region, completed.

Tests conducted by a research team in outdoor environments in Spain and Poland have demonstrated a strong correlation between perovskite solar cell degradation and the combined effects of climatic and operating conditions. The scientists found that open-circuit operation accelerates degradation, whereas operation at the maximum power point and under short-circuit conditions has a lower impact.

Longi Green Energy, JinkoSolar, and JA Solar each posted significant third-quarter losses amid continued price declines and high inventory levels, raising concerns among analysts about oversupply and margin pressure across the PV supply chain.

Two Japanese companies have announced a partnership to advance the recycling of solar panel cover glass for application in architectural flat glass production.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney are working with the institution’s spinout company BT Imaging to accelerate the commercialisation of solar cell defect detection technology, thanks to a $1.4 million commercialisation project. 

Chinese off-grid and hybrid solar energy storage solutions manufacturer Felicitysolar has established an office and warehouse in Sydney, New South Wales, stocked with its comprehensive range of residential and commercial products.

United States-headquartered solar technology platform provider Nextracker has launched the NX Earth Truss foundation solution, that tackles tough terrain to unlock land for solar projects.

Vast Energy has entered into voluntary administration, with KPMG Australia’s Peter Gothard and Amanda Coneyworth appointed as voluntary administrators to Vast and its wholly owned Australian subsidiary companies.

A key infrastructure asset at one of the world’s biggest batteries has reduced operations and delayed completion for more than six months, with few details made public regarding the critical asset.

The federal government has fast-tracked in 19 days environmental approval to Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia for its Queensland-based Dunmore solar and battery energy storage project.

Rystad Energy has released analysis of the federal government’s Solar Sharer scheme saying forecast increased demand from utility and household batteries and a slowdown of rooftop solar could boost utility renewables and coal via increased daytime demand, but impact gas and utility batteries.

TrinaSolar division, Trina Storage and Pacific Green Energy Storage have entered a memorandum of understanding to deliver up to 5 GWh of grid scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).