New South Wales

University of New South Wales’ Professor Joe Dong, the grid-guru overseeing some of the most innovative and integral research projects determining Australia’s trajectory to a grid energised by renewables, has been nominated for the Global Energy Prize.

It is not surprising that Byron Bay is ahead on its eco-friendly activity, but Byron Shire Council’s latest draft Net Zero Emissions Action Plan is an example of how framing policy can provide the active space for energy transition – an example the Morrison Government would be wise to follow.

Almost a third of Australians are locked behind the solar barrier, they’re renters, tenants, urban apartment-dwellers who don’t have the luxury of installing their own solar PV. However, now city-dwellers can participate in the solar transition too, by becoming members of the Haystacks Solar Garden which operates in much the same way as community garden.

The University of Sydney’s recently released Climate Statement makes a raft of commitments across a range of sustainability fronts, most notably a commitment to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and reach net zero emissions by 2030. However, Australia’s oldest university is still under pressure to divest from fossil fuels.

Where do old solar panels go to die? Sending them to landfill makes a mockery of their green beginnings, and imposes a new burden on our already stressed environment. The New South Wales Government intends to get ahead of this important end game with funding to develop viable models for solar system recycling.

Is airlifting solar modules the future of commercial and industrial rooftop installation? Epho Commercial Solar recently employed the use of a helicopter to airlift pallets of modules atop 12 separate rooftops at Woolworths’ massive Norwest Support Office in Bella Vista. Epho Managing Director, Oliver Hartley, sat down with pv magazine Australia to tell us why.

Blacktown City Council and Inner West Council are not wasting any time when it comes to meeting their carbon-neutrality and solar uptake goals. Both councils are currently in the process of doubling their current solar capacity in single swoops.

With two synchronous condensers installed as part of the project, the 275MWac/333MWdc Darlington Point Solar Farm hopes to help manage the ongoing integration of renewable energy generation in the West Murray region.

The 50 MWh battery will be colocated with stage 1 of the UPC/AC Renewables’ 720 MW New England Solar Farm.

The NSW Government has approved the development of the state’s first hydrogen gas facility at Horsley Park. The Western Sydney Green Gas Project will power local homes and businesses and supply hydrogen-powered vehicles.