In less than a year from today, Australia will be producing its own renewable-energy-storing lithium-ion batteries in the Hunter Region. A new $28 million Energy Renaissance facility will embed itself in the learning, hard-working, adaptable culture around the port of Newcastle, manufacturing exports that are expected to contribute some $3 billion to Australia’s GDP and advance the country’s energy transition.
Despite weeks with a Morrison Government sponsored gas cloud overhead a silver lining has appeared in the form of SunDrive, an Australian startup which just received $3 million in ARENA funding to help scale its low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell and manufacturing process.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales have run the numbers, run them again, and then run them a third time to make triply sure. Australia’s solar resources and the rapidly falling costs of solar-powered hydrogen production mean that the future hydrogen economy is green whether the Morrison Government likes it or not.
The CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has signed a 10-year PPA with Ross Garnaut’s Zen Energy. The deal will see solar energy from the Nurmurkah Solar Farm and the Nevertire Solar Farm halve the agency’s emissions.
Australia’s utility-scale solar is not untouchable. In a major win for the country’s clean-energy sector, UPC\AC Renewables yesterday announced the appointment of an EPC for the first phase of its 720 MW New England Solar Farm and colocated potential 400 MW battery energy storage system.
AGL Energy has expanded its solar battery VPP to Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria with the immediate launch of solar battery sales for residents of the eastern states, while solar and battery bundles will be available by the end of the year.
A new raft of councils across New South Wales’ coal country have committed to climate action and renewable energies are joining the Cities Power Partnership. Lake Macquarie City Council, Port Stephens Council and Cessnock City Council have followed the likes of The City of Newcastle in turning their backs on coal and gas.
UNSW Faculty of Engineering doctoral researcher Bruno Vicari Stefani won the University’s Virtual 3 Minute Thesis Final by creatively reimagining the fable of the Three Little Pigs to demonstrate how combining hydrogen with low-cost silicon in solar can improve efficiency.
In a week dominated by the Morrison Government’s announcement of its gas-led strategy for economic recovery, it also committed $250 million to critical transmission infrastructure projects. At the same time TransGrid announced 6,900 MW of renewable investment interest in its New England Transmission Infrastructure project.
The first of three large-scale green hydrogen plants in the pipeline of the Green Hydrogen Australia Group has been given the green light. The Bundaberg Hydrogen Hub, featuring an 80 MW hydrogen electrolyser, will produce clean hydrogen for Australian hydrogen vehicle developer H2X.
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