New South Wales

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen has submitted rule changes to the Australian Energy Market Commission to begin reforming how transmission projects in Australia are approved – a process which has drawn wide ire. While Bowen says he is “fast-tracking” the changes, some say the reforms slated for November are minor and overdue.

Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council has raised the alarm about Sydney electricity network, Ausgrid’s, upcoming tariff structure for high-power, public electric vehicle (EV) charging sites, saying under the proposal prices could balloon to $70,000 (USD 46,600) per annum.

A prestigious award, along with $3.7 million (USD 2.5 million) has been awarded to University of Wollongong electrochemist Professor Gerhard Swiegers for his efficiency breakthrough for hydrogen electrolysers, which are currently being commercialised by startup Hysata.

Australian gravity storage startup Green Gravity will build an R&D facility Bluescope’s Port Kembla Steelworks. The company is aiming to prove its technology, which rests on moving weighted objects through disused mine shafts, via the facility with construction to begin this month.

Construction has been completed on what is, for now, New South Wales’ largest battery system. The 150 MW / 300 MWh Riverina and Darlington Point energy storage systems are made up of three co-located units and owned by private equity fund manager Federation Asset Management and Edify Energy.

Chinese inverter and storage company Sungrow and Australian developer Green Gold Energy have signed an agreement to collaborate on “at least” 500 MWh of battery storage projects within the next three years – most to all of which will be DC-coupled. Relatively new to Australia’s grid-connected battery landscape, DC-coupled batteries will soon be able to trade on lucrative FCAS markets thanks to imminent rule changes, providing a firmer foothold for the technology in Australia.

Construction of the South Australian section of the $2.3 billion (USD 1.56 billion) EnergyConnect infrastructure project, which will link power grids across three states, is now more than 50% complete with ElectraNet announcing the high-voltage interconnector is on track for release of full power transfer capability by mid-2026.

AGL Energy last week shut its Liddell coal-fired power station in the Upper Hunter, ending generation from the site after more than five decades. Cornwall Insight Australia energy market analyst intern Darshitha PP takes a look at how the grid coped after the unit went offline.

The beleaguered Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project has been hit with fresh construction delays and added cost blowouts with concerns the multi-billion-dollar project may now not reach full commercial operation until late 2029.

The successful projects from the first tender conducted under the New South Wales government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap have been announced with two large solar farms, a wind farm and an eight-hour battery energy storage system to be built as the state looks to manage the exit of coal-fired power generation from the grid.