New South Wales

Australia’s largest roof-mounted solar PV system – featuring an incredible 27,000 panels spread across almost 8 hectares of rooftop – is nearing completion with the massive 10 MWdc system set to commence operation this week.

World beating Sydney-based startup SunDrive has given itself an early Christmas present in the form of the fabrication of its first full-sized panel. This panel marks the most recent milestone on the road to commercialisation for SunDrive, which set a new world record for commercial-sized silicon solar cell efficiency in September.

Researchers at the University of Wollongong say they have discovered a new form of graphene which will improve both anode and cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries, making them cheaper and more efficient. Collaborating with Sicona, the company has agreed to buy all the researchers’ intellectual property relating to the new material.

Norway-based REC Group’s REConstruct Initiative is helping communities hit hard by the Black Summer Bushfires of 2019-2020 by donating solar systems to help bring savings on electricity bills and independence to vulnerable areas cut off from the grid during the catastrophic fires.

New South Wales-based development company Greenspot has lodged a planning application for a massive 500 MW/1,000 MWh battery energy storage system to be built at the site of the shuttered coal-fired Wallerawang Power Station near Lithgow in the Central Tablelands.

Steel giant Bluescope has announced it will team with oil major Shell to develop a pilot-scale 10 MW green hydrogen electrolyser at its Port Kembla Steelworks as part of its plan to use renewable energy to make green steel in the New South Wales Illawarra region.

Two of Australia’s most prominent energy players, AGL Energy and Fortescue Future Industries, today announced plans to repurpose infrastructure at AGL’s Hunter Valley coal stations to turn them into green hydrogen hubs.

Australian hydrogen research and development company, Star Scientific, has announced its technology will be used to provide heat for industrial-scale sanitation in a pilot with Mars Food Australia.

Simply Energy on Thursday announced it will be extending its Virtual Power Plant program across the eastern seaboard and opening it up to five different battery brands. Simply Energy will continue its technology partnership with SwitchDin to do so, with Ryan Wavish, Simply’s General Manager, and Andrew Mears, CEO and founder of SwitchDin, telling pv magazine Australia they plan to introduce a whole range of new, more advanced features into the VPP as the relationship between the two companies evolves.

The way has been smoothed for Australian mining company Sunrise Energy Metals to take advantage of the booming lithium-ion battery industry with the federal government awarding Major Project Status to a $2.4 billion nickel and cobalt mine being developed in New South Wales.