Australia

Australian Vanadium and Metrowest Power Systems have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to facilitate energy storage opportunities using vanadium redox flow battery technology.

Following up suspicions raised by the state’s solar installer community, Solar Victoria launched an investigation into whether artificial intelligence (AI) had been deployed to exploit registrations for the rooftop PV subsidy. The investigation has concluded that there was no AI interference in the Solar Homes portal.

RedGrid sees a future where energy is locally sourced by communities. Using its Internet of Energy and “holochain” architecture, RedGrid’s prosumers are rewarded through the connection of distributed devices, systems and people into micro-grids, effectively, self-sustaining energy ecosystems.

UNSW’s Digital Grid Futures Institute held an Electrifying Transportation forum last week to bring together companies, innovators and academics to discuss the electrification of the transport sector and how persistent problems can be overcome.

ANZ has extended its collaboration with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, committing to facilitating a further $100 million of finance to help Australian businesses cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. Under the scheme, the bank is offering financial discounts for upgrades and new investments in solar PV, energy storage, EVs and other technologies.

The Australian arm of global mining manufacturer Molycop will be partly powered by wind and solar with the help of a long-term offtake deal inked with electricity retailer Flow Power. Under the new partnership, the manufacturer will have access to the ARENA Demand Response program.

The conclusion of AEMO’s 2019 planning and forecasting consultation brings revised approaches to the 2019-20 Integrated System Plan: three new renewable energy zones reflect resource and generator interest; the forecasting of distributed energy resources has been reframed; and a fifth and critical planning scenario has emerged. 

NASA satellite data illustrates that Australian governments are sanctioning pollution from coal-fired power stations that stains Australia with some of the world’s biggest hotspots for toxic emissions. The health burden, calculated in the tens of billions of dollars, should make the cost of coal unacceptable.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced last week that it would provide up to $40 million in funding to fast-track a Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) project in South Australia. ARENA is conscious of the need to store South Australia’s fast-growing renewable generation fleet.

In a major battle over land use, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has decided to refuse a planning permit for the 200 MW Bookaar Solar Farm, near Camperdown.