Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed increasing price caps on the country’s main electricity market. This is meant to allow investors to respond to fill gaps created by ageing coal generation.

Data shows a sharp increase in the number of fires caused by the DC isolators that separate the grid from solar panels. ABC News gathered state-by-state data revealing a dramatic increase in fire incidents in the last 12 months. 

The ACT government has awarded over a million dollars to support the commercialisation of technologies from six upcoming renewable companies. Round three of the territory’s $12 million innovation fund includes support for a startup which has developed a 3D printer capable of printing electronics.

Venture capital fund Macquarie Group’s new battery storage platform Eku Energy has been tapped by the Australian Capital Territory government to deliver the next stage of the Big Canberra Battery ‘ecosystem’ which will support the ongoing rollout of large-scale renewables and rooftop solar.

A research team at the Australian National University have claimed an efficiency of 30.3% for a tandem solar cell made by mechanically stacking a perovskite cell and a silicon cell. The achievement meets the first of three 2030 “stretch goals” set by the Australian government.

The Australian Capital Territory government has officially switched on its first grid-scale battery energy storage system, describing it as a “significant milestone” on Canberra’s pathway to 100% renewable electricity supply.

CleanPeak Energy, who have until now specialised in the C&I segment, have acquired the 13 MW Mugga Lane Solar Park in Canberra. CleanPeak reportedly bought the solar farm for between $30 million (USD 21 million) and $40 million, after it was placed into voluntary administration following a loan dispute.

A government-backed incentive scheme established to accelerate the introduction of distributed solar energy storage in the Australian Capital Territory is to be wound up having achieved its target of subsidising the installation of about 5,000 batteries over the past seven years.

Canberra-based startup Syenta has developed a 3D printer capable of printing highly complex and functional electronics like photovoltaics, batteries, sensors and more, promising to do so in ways that are faster, cheaper and using less energy. The technology, which saw an the Australian startup reach the global grand-finals of the global ClimateLaunchpad program, has the potential to reshape both how renewable technologies are manufactured, and their actual performance, the team tells pv magazine Australia.

ANU’s Dr Bjorn Sturmberg has launched his book Amy’s Balancing Act, a fable about Australia’s energy transition. While, of course, for kids, Dr Sturmberg’s book gestures towards fundamental questions for the industry itself. The energy transition is not just a technological shift, he tells pv magazine Australia, but systematic and emotional one – facets often overlooked within the industry.