Australia

Photon Energy’s Leeton and Fivebough Solar Plants have been commissioned after just under a year of construction. The two plants’ 14.6 MWp combined output is a positive sign for the Riverina region with its strategic importance to the renewable energy transition, and an achievement for Amsterdam-based Photon Energy.

Australian giant AGL Energy plans to build what will be the world’s largest ‘grid-forming’ battery in South Australia, deploying technology so novel that it yet to be clearly regulated in Australia. “Trialling something like this on the grid at this scale hasn’t been done before anywhere in the world,” Josh Birmingham, Director of Large-Scale & Project Solutions at SMA Australia, told pv magazine Australia.

Both Victoria’s and Queensland’s state governments are moving on their renewable energy zones (REZs) with tight deadlines looming for hopeful projects in Victoria, while further north the government is eager to hear from local communities.

Melbourne-based renewables developer Syncline Energy has revealed its plans for a 600 MW/2400 MWh battery storage project 25 kilometres west of Melbourne city.

As Australia’s most populace state, New South Wales, prepares to put out its hydrogen strategy roadmap later this year, the state is planning to use hydrogen to power its public transport fleets and will soon launch a digital collaboration portal.

Australian giant AGL Energy will soon own the world’s largest ‘grid forming’ battery, with construction on its 250 MW/250 MWh big battery to begin later this year at Torrens Island, just north of Adelaide in South Australia. The battery will be delivered by Finnish technology company Wärtsilä with inverters supplied by German company SMA Solar Technology.

The world authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has issued its Sixth Assessment Report, the most scathing yet, declaring our current trajectory of global warming will reach 1.5C by 2030. The report makes clear the heightened climatic effects of climate change will only increase, with the transition to renewable energies our only hope.

South Australia is a global hero for its demonstration of a rapid transition to renewable generation. But as renewables supplied more than 60% of the state’s electricity, and pushed out coal and even gas-fired generation, cracks appeared in the system strength and inertia required to keep the grid reliably running. ElectraNet has deployed old, clean-running technology — synchronous condensers — to smooth the gaps.

PV electricity generation is a natural choice for Australia’s remote Kimberley region. State-owned energy provider Horizon Power has deployed WA Recovery Plan funds to make the most of the interplay between sun and shade and put clean energy behind the Derby community’s aspirations.

Processing nightmare, or product opportunity? Impending five-minute settlement comes at a difficult time for energy retailers. Software from across the ditch could help highlight the benefits and opportunities of more solar and a forecast uptick in battery energy storage.