Australia

Australian engineering company Worley will help develop a $39 billion green hydrogen project in Oman.

Hertz, one of Australia and indeed the world’s biggest car rental companies, has announced it will be adding up to 65,000 new electric vehicles (EVs) to its fleet. While the percentage of those bound for Australia is still being negotiated, it adds to the rapid growth of our EV market – albeit from a low baseline.

Western Australian miner Iluka Resources will build Australia’s first integrated rare earths refinery to supply electric vehicle and renewable energy industries. The project has been enabled by a $1.25 billion loan from the Commonwealth government and is part of a broader push within Australia to establish ourselves as a serious alternative to China for the supply of processed critical minerals.

The 7.5MW Cosgrove solar farm in central Victoria has reached financial close and will begin construction as soon as next month after its owners, Bison Energy, reached an agreement with an undisclosed Australian superannuation fund.

Australia’s largest hybrid solar and battery project, the New England Solar Farm & Battery Project in northern New South Wales, has reached a new milestone over the weekend following the delivery of the first of two massive 250 MVA transformers.

The Western Australian Government has announced $1 million in funding for the first phase of a feasibility study into a 600-800MWh battery and green hydrogen industrial hub in the coal town of Collie. The state government has promised the town, which has been powering Western Australia with its two coal mines since the 1880s, a ‘just transition.’ Sunshot Energy, chaired by eminent energy economist Ross Garnaut, is undertaking the study which could deliver a ‘just transition’ to Collie and green ammonia and urea to the agricultural and industrial sectors.

Queensland company Green Day Energy has begun trialling its proposition to convert the invasive weeds species, prickly acacia, to biomass for the purpose of generating electricity, biochar and hydrogen.

Tesla has increased the price of its Powerwall solar battery system by almost a grand, taking the total – before installation – to $13,700.

Queensland-based company Line Hydrogen is launching its inaugural $100 million green hydrogen project in the growing hub of Bell Bay in Tasmania’s north. With a solar offtake agreement in place, the startup is aiming to be in production within a year.

Australia is vying to become a major green hydrogen export industry, particularly in the Asia Pacific, but new research from the Australian National University suggests the opportunity may be overstated.