Around the world, businesses are entering a new era of accountability. The shift toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures is transforming how organisations understand and govern key drivers of financial performance.

In 2021, Australia’s Coalition government pledged to reach net zero by 2050. Four years later, the Coalition have reversed course. After successive election losses, the Liberal and National parties have settled on a new climate strategy: give up on net zero and keep coal plants running longer.

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.

Ampyr Australia has signed a 15-year agreement for its Bulabul battery energy storage system near Wellington, New South Wales, in the Central West Orana renewable energy zone with Danish energy trading company InCommodoties.

A redesigned hybrid solar and battery project now featuring 200 MW of PV generation and a beefed up 2.2 GWh of energy storage capacity planned for far northern New South Wales has joined the queue for federal environmental approval.

French-owned energy group Engie has commenced construction of a new large-scale battery that is says will deliver more capacity and flexibility to the South Australian electricity grid.

The Western Australia government is looking to deploy a vanadium flow battery energy storage system with up to 10 hours of discharge capacity to help improve regional power reliability in the state’s Goldfields region.

The quality assurance service provider’s latest financial stability ranking has Tesla, Mustang Battery and Solid Power in the top three spots again, in a report that tracks manufacturers’ Altmann-Z scores over the past three years.

The China-based organic photovoltaics manufacturer has launched a line of indoor PV modules suitable for integration into digital office products and electronic devices.

Potentia Energy has reached another renewables milestone with its 1 GW Tallawang solar and battery energy storage project proposed for construction in western New South Wales awarded unconditional federal environmental approval.

New Zealand power company Genesis Energy has pressed go on its 114 MW Edgecumbe Solar Farm project on the nation’s North Island with the facility expected to start generating power in 2027.

Sigenergy says the issue that has prompted a voluntary recall of the company’s 8 kW, 10 kW and 12 kW single-phase inverters in Australia and New Zealand stems from incorrect installation practices, not a product defect.

The Australian arm of British renewables developer Octopus Investments has awarded key contracts as it pushes ahead with construction of a $900 million hybrid solar and battery energy storage project in southern New South Wales.

UNSW researchers investigating the impact of electron irradiation on PERC and TOPCon solar cell performance have identified bulk lifetime degradation as main power loss cause. Their work stresses the need for increasing radiation tolerance in commercial space silicon solar cells.

In a new scientific paper, the Chinese solar manufacturer explained that the 27.81%-efficient hybrid interdigitated back-contact cell it unveiled in April is based on passivated tunneling contacts and dielectric passivation layers, while also incorporating both n-type and p-type contacts.

How to negotiate fair agreements for landholders potentially hosting solar farms, such as bargaining for project designs that enable grazing or cropping, is outlined in a new handbook targeting rural and regional communities.

1414 Degrees is progressing the development of a battery energy storage system at the Aurora Energy Precinct in South Australia, for the joint venture SiliconAurora, and is independently developing a long duration thermal energy storage facility, with eyes on providing firmed power for data centres.

In a new scientific paper, the Chinese solar manufacturer explained that the 27.81%-efficient hybrid interdigitated back-contact cell it unveiled in April is based on passivated tunnelling contacts and dielectric passivation layers, while also incorporating both n-type and p-type contacts.

Fox ESS is ramping up its presence in Australia with nationwide sales and techical support teams and is building local warehousing for its suite of inverters, electric vehicle chargers, and battery storage products, such as the EQ4800 and new CQ6.

Chinese manufacturer Phono has launched a new bifacial solar panel in the Australian market featuring an output of 475 W and a power conversion efficiency of 23.27%.

The quality assurance provider reported India-based Insolation Energy, Waaree Renewable Technologies, and Solex Energy retained the top three positions in its Altmann-Z score-based quarterly ranking. Its analysts noted the number of companies with healthier scores increased from nine to 11.

Battery technology developer Li-S Energy has secured almost $8 million in federal government funding to advance planning for a large-scale lithium-sulfur battery cell manufacturing facility in Australia.

The Chinese company says that its new ESA series is available with a hybrid inverter ranging from 3 kW to 10 kW and storage capacities of 5 kWh to 48 kWh. The IP66-rated product supports an MPPT current of up to 20 A on the PV side and allows 200% PV oversizing, according to the manufacturer.

European renewables outfit TagEnergy has advanced plans to build its first big battery in Australia with the signing of major agreements to deliver a standalone four-hour energy storage system in Victoria.

About 10 GWh of battery energy storage supply deals were announced at or following All Energy, further contributing to the already rapidly growing market share of Chinese manufacturers in Australia.

South Australian clean energy systems installer My Energy Engineering has powered an advanced robotic dairy with an off-grid solar array and containerised battery storage system for reliable round the clock energy.

A transformer failure at the 850 MW Waratah Super Battery could trigger multimillion-dollar insurance claims and project delays, illustrating how a single unit outage can escalate at one of Australia’s largest battery projects.

A 290 MW solar farm and 180 MW / 360 MWh battery energy storage system planned for Queensland’s Fraser Coast region is advancing towards construction after being given the green light by the federal government.