Australia

The $150 million agreement between the government-owned CS Energy and the Kennedy Energy Park marks yet another positive step for Australia as as hybrid large scale solutions move into the market.

Senec Australia has presented its Home and Business battery storage solution at All Energy Australia for the first time, with Managing Director Ian Parkinson saying that the company is hoping to foster community resilience, in the face of rising electricity prices and the current contentious political debate about the security of electricity supply.

Record crowds have been attracted to this year’s All Energy Australia trade show and conference, currently underway at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. With the country’s rooftop market set to exceed 1 GW in 2017, the battery storage sector burgeoning, and strong growth being shown in the utility scale segment, policy uncertainty prevails beyond 2020.

The Federal Government will provide $28.6 million for a demand response trial, in partnership with the New South Wales State Government, to help meet electricity demand peaks this summer. The announcement has been made as it becomes increasingly likely that the government will abandon any form of Clean Energy Target.

Victoria’s Energy Minister Liliana D’Ambrosio took a packed house of All Energy 2017 attendees through the state government’s approach to renewables, energy efficiency, storage and energy innovation as Australia’s largest PV show got underway today. She also mapped out the timeline for the Victoria’s long-awaited large-scale auction.

The highest rooftop penetration rates globally have not discouraged optimizer and inverter supplier SolarEdge from continuing to push hard into the Australian PV marketplace. Describing the market as “mature” and featuring “deep and rich sales models”, SolarEdge Founder Lior Handlesman said there are still plenty of rooftops to which solar can be added, in particular in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment.

The $157 million project will be built with 420,000 multicrystalline modules mounted on single-axis tracker near Port Augusta.

Adani Australia is planning to construct a 300 MW PV power plant at Rugby Run in Queensland. It has signed a PPA for the first 65 MW phase of the project.

The former APAC head of DNV GL’s solar consultancy has fired a departing shot before leaving to take on a new posting – continued investment will likely remain dependent on clear and stable public policy settings.

German battery suppliers are pushing strongly into the Australian market as households turn to solar+storage to combat high and rising electricity prices. However, installer capacity may prove a short-term bottleneck.