Northern Territory

Smart technology that controls energy flow on power grids could soon be the norm in the Northern Territory with a trial launched in the outback town of Alice Springs that will test the economic and energy efficiency of a rooftop solar-driven virtual power plant.

The Northern Territory government has signed an agreement with Taiwanese battery company Aleees and Western Australia-based miner Avenira to develop a battery cathode manufacturing plant in Darwin.

Construction has commenced on a $45 million grid-scale battery storage system that will support further uptake of solar PV among households and businesses in the Northern Territory and help the government achieve 50% penetration of renewables into its energy supply by 2030.

Australia’s Provaris Energy, formerly known as Global Energy Ventures, has had its 2.8 GW Tiwi Island’s green hydrogen project awarded Major Project Status by the Northern Territory government.

French renewables giant Total Eren continues to advance its green hydrogen ambitions in Australia, teaming with the Northern Territory government to develop a massive renewable hydrogen production facility powered by more than 2 GW of solar PV generation in the far north.

Australian mining technology company TNG Limited, which owns the world’s most advanced vanadium project – the Mount Peake Project in the Northern Territory, is having its leadership team formally challenged by a shareholder campaign criticising the project’s setbacks and slow progression.

The Northern Territory is set to install its first hydrogen energy storage system as part of a pilot being operated by the Charles Darwin University in Darwin.

Rooftop solar systems are cheaper then centralised ground mounted systems for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, a new report funded by ARENA and APVI has found. The report, however, did not examine the question of community benefit in its scope – something Alan Langworthy, who has long worked in energy in the NT, told pv magazine Australia is absolutely vital.

Western Australian renewables company Provaris Energy has lodged a referral submission to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority for its proposed 2.8 GW green hydrogen export project being developed on the Tiwi Islands off Australia’s north coast.

Sun Cable’s ambitious $30 billion-plus Australia-Asia PowerLink project, which is set to be the largest solar farm, largest battery and longest subsea electricity cable developed globally, has passed another major milestone with the Australian government’s independent infrastructure advisory body giving its economic credentials the tick of approval.