Australia

This year’s heightened drumbeat of extreme weather shows us how little time we actually have to slash emissions. It is now clear that going slow on cutting greenhouse gas emissions is much more expensive than taking action.

West Australian natural hydrogen startup H2EX will work with Adelaide-headquartered space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies to accelerate the discovery of naturally occurring hydrogen systems in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

The share of renewables in Australia’s main electricity grid has reached a new high, with rooftop and grid-scale solar, wind and hydro combining to deliver more than 70% of the total underlying demand on Wednesday.

Australia’s biggest coal miner has inked a major renewable energy deal that will utilise solar, wind and pumped hydro to provide about half the forecasted electricity demand of its central Queensland operations.

One month after formally opening its first operational grid-scale battery at the Torrens Island power station site in South Australia, AGL has confirmed that next month it will begin demolishing the adjacent gas-fired Torrens ‘A’ power plant.

Chinese company GoodWe will now be offering specialised carport solar panels to the Australian market, which it says are designed to overcome issues around water drainage and wiring.

Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund is up and running, with the federal government transferring the first $5 billion (USD 3.26 billion). The fund has already received around 100 proposals, with climate ventures and advanced technology reportedly dominating.

Mytilineos’ 75 MW Wyalong Solar Farm in the New South Wales Riverina region has now begun feeding into the grid, with almost two thirds of its generation contracted to NBN Australia, the national broadband network.

Despite soiling and mechanical stress, PV deployed between or close to rail tracks is not just a crazy idea, states an Australian-Bangladeshi research group. The scientists conducted a techno-economic analysis on a 128 kW demonstrator and found it may achieve a levelised cost of energy of only USD 0.052/kWh ($0.080/kWh).

Startup accelerator EnergyLab is showcasing its 2023 cohort of promising climate tech startups this morning. Ahead of the launch, pv magazine Australia caught up with participants Energy Synapse and PowerPlay.