Juwi lands Greenough River solar farm expansion deal
Germany’s Juwi will take over the stalled Greenough River solar farm expansion in the wake of RCR Tomlinson’s collapse. The second stage involves construction of an additional 30 MW of solar PV at the site.
Blue Mountains home to one of NSW’s first passive houses
“The Sapphire” is one of the first passive houses in New South Wales (NSW). Located in the Blue Mountains’ village of Foulconbridge, “The Sapphire” is a carbon zero house utilising an SMA Energy System consisting of a Sunny Boy solar inverter and a Sunny Boy Storage battery inverter providing clean solar power.
Distributed Energy Test Lab set to open in Canberra
The Distributed Energy Resource (DER) laboratory “DER-Lab” will provide an environment for safe testing of new technologies including monitoring and communication devices, smart controllers, aggregation (e.g. Virtual Power Plant), market participation software and other innovative new products.
Kidston transmission line funding paves the way for more solar and wind
The Queensland government has pledged to support Genex’s project at Kidston with up to $132 million. The funding will be used to build a single circuit transmission line and connect a massive pumped hydro project with the main grid, unlocking additional stages for the clean energy hub, including up to 270 MW of additional solar and up to 150 MW of wind.
It’s official: Large-scale Renewable Energy Target achieved more than a year early
The Clean Energy Regulator has confirmed it has approved enough capacity to meet the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). While this is a great achievement for the renewables industry, the question remains what comes beyond 2020. Although analysts expect a slow down, ANU researchers find the record installation rates will see Australia surpass the scrapped target of 41,000 GWh of renewable energy generation around the end of 2020.
REC Group, Risen strengthen Australian distribution networks
Two major solar panel manufacturers are looking to expand their presence in Australia with new distributors on board.
Tesla’s Model 3 finally humming along Australian streets
Deliveries of Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla’s best-selling Model 3 sedan have finally started in Australia, over 18-months after the EV’s first launch in the U.S. The belated runout is another boost to the accelerating EV industry in Australia.
Solar Victoria portal crashes as expanded rooftop PV rebate opens
Only hours after the release of the boosted September allocation of rooftop PV rebates, Solar Victoria’s application portal crashed, leaving applicants frustrated.
Project to turn biogas from sewage into renewable hydrogen and graphite wins ARENA backing
The Australian Renewable Energy Arena (ARENA) has approved up to $9.41 million in conditional funding to Hazer Group for the construction and operation of a groundbreaking hydrogen production facility in Munster, Western Australia. The project is utilizing biogas produced at the treatment plant as feedstock to produce hydrogen and graphite.
Sunshine Coast university switches on a cool new solar-powered thermal battery
Universities from South Australia to Queensland are embedding renewable-energy technology in their operations and teaching. Last week, the University of the Sunshine Coast in collaboration with Veolia introduced a cold-water tank — effectively a 7 MW battery — to the range of innovative options for reducing electricity costs and the carbon footprint of large, energy-hungry institutions.
