Oceania

Investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ plan to build a multi-billion-dollar polysilicon production plant in north Queensland to supply solar panel and battery manufacturers has received a major boost with the state government clearing the way to fast-track the project.

Mining and energy major Fortescue says the performance of an electric excavator operating at its Cloudbreak mine site in Western Australia’s is continuing to improve but is at times already performing better than its diesel equivalent.

Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar says its solar module shipments reached 78.5 GW in 2023. This year, it says it hopes to sell up to 110 GW of panels.

The first installations featuring the Tesla Powerwall 3 are currently being completed in the United States, with the company promoting a fully integrated solar-plus-storage and electric vehicle (EV) residential system, with big backup power capacity. While the first Powerwall created a new market segment, the latest iteration enters a marketplace in oversupply.

Australian oil and gas developer Lion Energy is considering utilising rooftop solar to help power an integrated green hydrogen generation and distribution facility approved for the Port of Brisbane in Queensland.

Rail freight company Aurizon is steering a project to develop the next generation of Australian freight trains, aiming to transition from diesel fuel to battery technology to power its fleet as it works to deliver zero-emissions capable freight locomotives.

Gas and electricity company APA Group has launched Australia’s largest remote-grid solar farm, announcing the official opening of the 88 MW Dugald River Solar Farm in outback Queensland.

Three Australia-based alumni of climate tech startup accelerator EnergyLab raised a collective $124 million in 2023 for their renewables and energy transition concepts.

Following the launch of its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro module series at Shanghai’s SNEC expo last year, manufacturing heavyweight JA Solar has revealed some of its latest line’s key performance improvements at a technology forum in Sydney this month. Performance highlights include module efficiencies of 22.8%, decreased degradation, improved temperature coefficients, and better low-light performance.

The private owner and operator of South Australiaʼs electricity transmission network has laid out its plans to manage the challenges and opportunities of the state’s energy transition, including investing in major transmission projects to serve an expected increase in demand.