Australia

The Smart Energy Council (SEC) promised action, and it isn’t bluffing. This Thursday, 25 July at 10:30am the Victorian solar community will rally on the steps of Victoria Parliament House. “The Victorian Government Don’t Get It!” goes the cry as solar workers lose their jobs and companies close in the aftermath of the Victorian Government’s Solar Homes Program, a sad lesson in the law of unintended consequences. 

The Northern Territory has given major project status to an ambitious plan to develop a 10 GW solar farm coupled with a 20-30 GWh storage facility near Tennant Creek and export solar power harvested in the Australian desert to Singapore via subsea cables.

A joint report released today by AEMO and Energy Networks Australia confirms that managing Australia’s growing distributed energy resources presents an extraordinary opportunity, which could result in $100 billion in savings in network infrastructure and $1 billion in benefits across the energy-consumer landscape.

Raptor Maps has some 700 MW of Australian solar farms under monitoring by aerial thermal imaging. Compared to the company’s worldwide customer base, Australian PV plant experiences roughly the same average percentage — between 1.5% and 2% — of power affected by faults and defects as global installations.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has laid out a $370 million plan for network upgrades in Western Victoria which would deliver almost double the benefit to both energy consumers and energy producers. However, the proposal has provoked federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor’s attack on the state’s renewable energy target.

With 128 MWp, Numurkah is the largest operating solar farm in Victoria. The project developed by French renewable energy producer Neoen has a major supply contract secured with the Laverton Steelworks and is one of two solar farms supplying 100% renewable energy to offset Melbourne’s entire tram network.

Metal wrap-through technology combined with PERC confers multiple benefits on Sunport Power’s new solar modules. Add the involvement of UNSW’s Professor Martin Green in the product development, Sunport’s 1.4 GW production capacity and a 30-year performmance warranty by insurer Lloyds… Two Australian wholesalers have started shipping.

The Solar Price Index for July 2019 as published monthly by Solar Choice noted a 13% rise in residential solar prices in Victoria following the re-opened rebate scheme being snapped up in the first 3 days.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is looking to reward large energy consumers for reducing their power usage at times of peak demand. The electricity market’s rule maker is looking to prevent the summer blackouts that have become commonplace around Australia in recent years in a cost effective manner through the proposed rule change.

Canadian gas giant ATCO has unveiled its Clean Energy Hub in Jandakot which will explore the potential of hydrogen for home use in gas appliances. On the same day, the Western Australian government has launched a renewable hydrogen strategy and announced the creation of a $10 million green hydrogen fund.