Australia

Australian renewable energy developer Genex Power has bought Queensland’s Bulli Creek storage project from Solar Choice, saying it plans to develop the site in five stages – the first of which will include a 400 MW / 1,600 MWh big battery.

In a bit more bad news for everyone already struggling with the current energy crisis, modelling from Cornwall Insight Australia forecasts that prices will remain at increasingly high levels for the next three years, after which they will flatten but are not likely to lose their volatility in the longer term.

An international team of scientists developed a nanoparticle structure which, when added to a solar cell, was shown to scatter light and potentially reflect it many times within the cell, contributing to a noticeable jump in current.

Horizon Power, the state government owned electricity provider for much of regional Western Australia, is set to rollout energy management technology which integrates the utility’s assets with distributed energy resources. The technology, which uses predictive analytics, hopes to unlock access to renewables in the regions.

US engineering company Bechtel will support planning for proposed Queensland pumped hydro and energy storage facility, Big-T, at Lake Cressbrook in the state’s southeast. The project involves a 400 MW pumped hydro facility with 10 hours of storage and a 200 MW/200 MWh battery system.

Bringing on board gas giants APA Group, Inpex Corporation, Osaka Gas and distributor Jemena, AGL and Fortescue Future Industries say their Hunter Valley coal to hydrogen hub conversions could be as large as 2 GW – though the insistence on green hydrogen does appear somewhat muddied by the new partnerships.

Miner Rio Tinto has received offers to build more than 4 GW of solar and wind capacity after the company sought proposals to help it cut carbon emissions at its Queensland operations.

Researchers from Deakin University in Victoria have announced a breakthrough in the development of new polymer electrolyte chemistries that they believe could pave the way for a safer and cheaper alternative to current lithium-ion battery energy storage technologies.

The Australian government’s green bank has extended its collaboration with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, committing up to $200 million as part of a clean energy asset purchasing program to help Australian businesses invest in energy efficient and renewable technologies to cut costs and reduce emissions.

Australian renewables company Wave Swell Energy says the time has come for wave power to sit alongside wind, solar and energy storage as part of a modern energy mix after a 12-month trial of its technology in the seas of Bass Strait produced an average rate of conversion from ocean energy to electricity of up to 50%.