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.

When Snowy 2.0 is in the news, it’s usually about money. The cost of the huge project has gone well beyond the initial $6 billion estimate and will now cost more than $12 billion.

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.

The South Korean government says all public parking lots larger than 1,000 square metres will be required to install solar power systems from the end of this month, as part of a nationwide policy to accelerate renewable energy adoption in urban areas.

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.

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.

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.

Spanish renewable energy solutions company Solarig has surpassed 2 GW of renewable energy assets under its operation and management in Australia, following the start of operation at the Stubbo Solar Project in New South Wales.

NSW-based solar racking business S-Rack has engineered and installed advanced racking for an 83 kW Sydney council carport solar system to support the organisation’s energy generation and electric vehicle charger network.

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.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has committed $25.3 million to SunDrive to support its copper metallisation technology from development at its South Sydney facility to a 300 MW commercial-scale production tool.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is backing mining giant Fortescue with $45 million in funding, to trial new technologies that include methods to accelerate large-scale solar deployment and next generation solar construction techniques, at a Pilbara solar innovation hub.

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.

Chinese solar manufacturer AIKO has signed a 1 GW supply agreement with Australian distributors and introduced its third generation all back contact Infinite series at All Energy 2025 in Melbourne.

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).

Akaysha Energy has closed $460 million construction financing for its 311 MW / 1,244 MWh Elaine BESS in Victoria, where works have also begun, with financing underpinned by a 15-year virtual tolling agreement with Snowy Hydro.