Australia

The City of Subiaco, an affluent suburb just west of Perth city, has become the first carbon neutral local government in Western Australia certified under the Commonwealth’s Climate Active program.

In a big win for renewables and a big loss for the Morrison Government, the Senate has blocked the Energy Minister Angus Taylor’s attempt to illegally expand the mandate of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to fund non-renewable projects.

A survey of 300 business decision-makers across Australia has found nearly 40% of large businesses and 21% of small to medium enterprises are unhappy with their current energy contracts, with 62% of respondents saying they would be willing to switch.

Tasmania’s port authority has entered into an agreement with Fortescue Future Industries for land and operating access for its proposed 250 MW green hydrogen plant at Bell Bay, in Tasmania’s north.

The Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources is inviting discussion on its newly proposed Guarantee of Origin certification scheme for hydrogen production. The discussion itself however, which is welcomed by hydrogen industry stakeholders, has a long way to go before its methodology works to accurately differentiate hydrogen produced by renewables from other sources.

Perth-based TNG Limited has signed an agreement with Malaysian green hydrogen company AGV Energy which will see its vanadium redox flow batteries integrated into the HySustain project to store solar energy for green hydrogen production.

The Gladstone Energy and Ammonia Project plans to efficiently use available resources and technology to produce low-cost, relatively low-emissions blue hydrogen from coal, and provide a conduit to commercialising true green hydrogen. A federal emissions policy driving toward a net-zero commitment could properly value GEAP’s place in Australia’s energy and export ecosystem.

Is there something fishy about Environment Minister Sussan Ley rejecting the Asian Renewable Energy Hub’s development application? The murkiness of the federal government’s drive to make Australia an exporter of hydrogen, of any hue, gives rise to concerns.

Gladys Berejiklian’s government in NSW surges ahead in the race to drive meaningful reductions in transport emissions; while a former NSW Liberal leader turns car washes into solar-powered charge stations!

The group behind an ambitious plan to develop more than 600 MW of solar PV and 600 MWh of energy storage in Victoria’s Gippsland region have announced planning for one of the projects included in the proposed three-pronged renewables portfolio is underway.