France

Around 800,000 new workers will be required in Europe by 2025 for the battery industry alone and, more broadly, existing workers will need to be retrained as the continent’s industries transition away from fossil fuels. International competition for workers is becoming increasingly fierce. Where are these workers and the required skills supposed to come from?

French renewables developer TE H2’s ambition to be an early mover in Australia’s giga-scale renewable energy generation and hydrogen production industry has received a boost with the Northern Territory government awarding major project status to the proposed Darwin H2 Hub.

The Australian arm of French renewables player Neoen is set to start the construction of its largest solar farm in New South Wales – and the second biggest in its global portfolio – pressing go on the 350 MW Culcairn Solar Farm being developed in the state’s south.

Australian solar thermal specialist Vast Renewables will look to accelerate the development of its concentrated solar power technology after securing a $16.37 million (€10 million) capital commitment from French energy giant EDF Renewables.

The Siemens Energy-led Hyflexpower consortium has conducted a series of tests on a gas turbine located on the premises of Smurfit Kappa, a paper-based packaging supplier.

With more than 3 GW of large-scale solar, wind and battery storage capacity in operation or under construction, Neoen is already Australia’s biggest clean energy player but now the French developer is planning to triple its renewables capacity by 2030.

TotalEnergies has increased its stake in French renewables giant Total Eren from 30% to 100%, a transaction that values the independent power producer at almost $5.0 billion (EUR 3.5 billion).

Renewable energy developer Neoen will scale up the installed capacity of the Western Downs Battery being built in Queensland to 270 MW/540 MWh as it looks to keep pace with rising demand for energy storage and realise opportunities across Australia’s evolving energy system.

French oil and gas supermajor TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Gentari Renewables, the clean energy arm of Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas, to jointly develop a 100 MW solar farm in southwest Queensland.

Three years after French renewable energy developer Neoen first broke ground at the site of its Western Downs Green Energy Hub in Queensland’s Western Downs region, the last of the more than one million panels has been installed as the 400 MW solar farm nears 100% completion.