Northern Territory

With the global demand for lithium accelerating, Australian miner Core Lithium has inked a deal to supply United States-based electric vehicle and battery maker Tesla with up to 110,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate.

The Australian arm of UK-based global fund manager Octopus Group has announced it will partner with Indigenous communities on plans for renewable energy projects it says could attract investments of as much as $50 billion over the next decade.

The remote Northern Territory township of Jabiru, deep in the heart of the Kakadu National Park, has been powered 100% by solar PV during the final commissioning of the new Jabiru Hybrid Renewable Power Station.

Prospective hydrogen projects in the Northern Territory are taking new shape with Monday’s news that FRV Australia, partially owned by now Saudi company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, had signed an agreement with Australia’s Hexagon Energy. It seems the two companies are considering connecting the hydrogen projects they’ve been separately exploring near Darwin, though it’s worth noting Hexagon is hoping to export blue (fossil) hydrogen.

Western Australian renewables company Global Energy Ventures is steaming ahead with its plan to establish a massive 2.8 GW green hydrogen production and export facility on the Tiwi Islands off the coast of the Northern Territory, announcing it has already commenced the development program.

Virtual power plants have turned a corner in this country, SwitchDin founder, Andrew Mears tells pv magazine Australia. With the new technology now firmly established, we take a look at the new approaches to orchestration which will inform the next wave of distributed energy resources management.

Indigenous communities have some of the most unreliable, expensive power in Australia, with a recent study finding almost three quarters of households in remote Northern Territory communities lost power more than 10 times, often for significant periods on “dangerously” hot days. Alarmingly, regulations have until now completely blocked communities in public housing from connecting rooftop solar because they use a prepaid meter system.

A $15 billion green hydrogen project that utilises solar powered water-from-air technology to save on the cost of hydrogen generation and save the precious water resources of arid regions, has received Major Project Status from the Northern Territory government and aims to be in commercial production by 2023.

Hitachi Energy has won Northern Territory Labor’s tender for the Darwin-Katherine ‘Big Battery’, which is expected to unlock more capacity for residential and industrial PV, generate cost savings of $9.8 million and pay for itself in approximately five years.

Compressed hydrogen ship maker Global Energy Ventures will develop a 2.8 GW green hydrogen export project on the Tiwi Islands, off the coast of the Northern Territory. It says the project will demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of compressed hydrogen for Asia-Pacific supply chains, and will of course use a fleet of its own hydrogen-powered and hydrogen carrying 430-tonne ships.