Australia

3,000 social housing properties in South Australia are to be transformed into the world’s largest virtual power plant (VPP). Tesla has picked up a grants ARENA and the SA Government, and an investment from CEFC to execute the $60.6 million project, which is intended to deliver lower electricity costs for residents and a more stable grid.

Almost a third of Australians are locked behind the solar barrier, they’re renters, tenants, urban apartment-dwellers who don’t have the luxury of installing their own solar PV. However, now city-dwellers can participate in the solar transition too, by becoming members of the Haystacks Solar Garden which operates in much the same way as community garden.

New analysis from The Australian National University along with recently published figures from the Clean Energy Regulator demonstrate that Australia remains the world leader in wind and solar deployment per capita, particularly rooftop PV. However, federal policy is failing to invest in desperately needed infrastructural upgrades.

South Australia’s first ten-star home was completed last month, a home that consumes twenty times less energy than the average Australian household, in part thanks to its Fimer React 2 solar hybrid system.

Australian mining giant BHP has signed a five-year power purchase agreement with CleanCo as it looks to cut emissions from its electricity use at its QLD coal mines by 50% by 2025. The agreement relies on a variety of energy sources, including gas, at least until the Western Downs Green Power Hub comes online in late 2022. Critics have described the deal as “greenwashing”.

The Federal Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility is backing Melbourne-based investment firm Merricks Capital to the tune of $37 million for the construction of a 10 MW solar farm and a 12 MW gas power plant south of Darwin. The twin projects are set to be the first privately owned and operated energy projects in the Territory.

The 50% expansion of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve, otherwise known as the Tesla Big Battery, has been successfully completed. If testing of the upgraded battery goes well, Hornsdale could begin to function with an expanded remit of synthetic inertia services, a capability which could have significant impact on regulatory changes.

A new solar inverter is set to arrive on Aussie shores, in the form of the 5 kWp GE rooftop unit. Having received one of the first systems to roll off production lines, SolarQuip’s Glen Morris describes the unit as combining all the features of a modern solar inverter, with “high brand recognition.”

The Victorian state government is sounding out the market to support the development of “at least 600 MW” of renewable energy projects in the state. Building on the VRET program, which saw close to 1 GW of wind and solar development under reverse auction, the government is looking to foster a renewables-led recovery from the pandemic.

A University of South Australia study has demonstrated that while solar panels in Australia are typically installed facing north to catch most of the sun’s arc, if you’re looking to export your solar into the grid you should really be orientating your panels to minimise the discrepancy between the times of peak use and peak production.