New South Wales

The NSW country town of Broken Hill is set to host one of the world’s largest microgrids supplied by solar, wind and grid-scale storage.

Gas utility Jemena has committed to produce and deliver hydrogen gas to Hyundai’s Macquarie Park headquarters from early 2021.

The 120 MW solar project near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, the first renewable energy asset in the portfolio of network owner Spark Infrastructure, has achieved a critical milestone in the face of market challenges and delays.

Wollongong City Council is looking to install solar panels on its Stewart Street multi-story carpark as part of its continued focus on sustainability and net-zero emissions targets.

Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve has gone to work in the first half of 2020, virtually tripling the French renewables developer’s storage revenue on comparative 2019 levels. However, this growth was largely caused by a one-off event, and a slower Q2 highlights the need for FCAS policy renewal. Neoen’s Australian solar revenues could also achieve little more than consistency thanks to poor conditions.

NSW State Government-owned water and sewage utility Hunter Water is set to join a now surging river of water utilities around Australia investing strongly in the uptake of solar PV. The announcement came with the completion of a 100 kW system at Branxton Wastewater Treatment Works.

Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council has installed its largest solar array to date, a 265 kW rooftop system atop the Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton Aquatic Centre in Manly. Council is revving up its solar capacity on its way to a goal of having renewable energy power all suitable Council sites by 2030, an ambition it hopes will inspire more local residents to take up solar too.

The New South Wales town of Parkes, famous for its involvement in the Apollo 11 Moon landing, is set to play a part in another scientific wonder, the transition to renewable energy, after the NSW Government approved the development of the 80 MW Quorn Park Solar Farm. A small step in the plan , but a giant leap for the planet.

You might think public hospitals have a duty of care to protect the community and reduce emissions by applying a warm blanket of solar PV to their many hectares of rooftop space. The NSW Government is fulfilling that prescription.

Thanks to the Covid-19 many of us find ourselves in lockdown with little reprieve other than a morning potter or an evening stroll. In Goulburn, thanks to what is being called Australia’s largest solar lighting installation, locals can now more easily walk and cycle their way to the salutary effects of a daily jaunt.