New South Wales

New South Wales is seeking 2,500 GWh of annual generation and 600 MW of long-duration storage for its first tender, part of realising its ambitious NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.

The New South Wales government has announced funding for five pumped hydro schemes spread across the state as it looks to deliver large-scale energy storage and firming capacity to allow for an increased uptake of renewable energy and to help plug the gap left by exiting coal-fired generation.

Haystacks, Australia’s first large-scale solar garden, to be built in the New South Wales Riverina region, has opened its solar “plots” to purchase for NSW households unable to install rooftop systems.

Australia’s first lithium-ion battery giga-factory is expected to begin operations soon with battery manufacturer Energy Renaissance announcing the successful completion of a $1.47 million pilot program designed to develop and test its manufacturing processes, systems and plant design.

The University of Wollongong professor behind the capillary-fed electrolyser breakthrough now being commercialised by Hysata has received grant funding to develop a cell for extracting pure hydrogen from methane mixtures.

The 225 MW Oxley Solar Farm, proposed in northern NSW, has agreed to pay $5.9 million as a “community benefit contribution.” The payment links to a recent list of demands from councils within the New England Renewable Energy Zone fed up large-scale projects deliver “significant financial and social costs with little tangible benefit to our regions.”

Renewable energy investors have proposed more than 40 new clean energy projects totalling more than 17 GW of generation and storage capacity for a coordinated renewable energy zone to be established in the Illawarra region on the New South Wales south coast.

The University of Technology Sydney has outlined details of a solar PV project it says demonstrates the potential of commercial and industrial rooftop space for use as solar farms with benefits beyond satisfying the host building’s energy needs.

The New South Wales government has moved to smooth the way for the development of large-scale solar farms in the state as the energy sector continues to transition from fossil-fuel generation towards renewables-based electricity.

Regional New South Wales will soon be home to a new solar PV and battery energy storage project with construction beginning on the community-owned Latitude Solar Farm being developed at Boggabilla in the state’s far north.