Australia

Pure Hydrogen has entered into a partnership with Australia’s largest privately-owned waste management company, JJ Waste & Recycling, to build what it claims will be the country’s first ever hydrogen fuelled garbage truck.

Construction of the Kogan Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant in Queensland’s Western Downs region is expected to start by September, with government-owned CS Energy, the plant’s operator, having finalised the EPC contract with IHI Engineering Australia to construct the project.

Sydney’s Bay Port will soon be offering 100% renewably sourced power to docked ships, a world first for a dry-bulk precinct and the first in the Southern Hemisphere for a cruise terminal.

Given the goings-on in the world this last quarter, Mike Jefferies, Investment Manager at Octopus Investments Australia, takes a look at the current macroeconomic environment, how this is tied to energy markets, the impacts Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on that energy market, what this could mean for Australia and how renewables could help address these issues.

The rollout of rooftop solar in the remote coastal town of Broome in northern Western Australia is set to get a boost with state-owned regional energy provider Horizon Power installing two centralised community batteries that are expected to unlock more than 1,400kW of solar PV hosting capacity.

Australia’s biggest power producer AGL has secured planning approval for a 500MW/2GWh grid-connected utility scale battery to be developed at the site of its coal-fired Liddell power plant in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

With residents across New South Wales and southeast Queensland still cleaning up after the devastating floods that ripped through their communities earlier this month, solar industry advocacy group Safer Solar has issued a call for Australia to mandate rapid shutdown technology on solar PV systems.

The Australian Government has committed more than $240 million to critical minerals projects in a bid to end Australia’s reliance on China and cement its place in the rapidly growing global electric vehicle and battery markets.

Work on the long-awaited 280MW Cultana Solar Farm in South Australia appears set to begin with Simec Energy Australia announcing this week it is preparing to start construction on the ~$350 million project.

German-owned renewable energy developer Wirsol Energy has added another 313MW of solar to its Australian operation and maintenance portfolio, securing the contracts for three utility scale solar farms.