Oceania

Australian energy storage startup Green Gravity will explore opportunities to deploy its gravitational energy storage technology in Europe after inking an agreement with the Romanian state-owned energy company Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului SA.

Australian commercial solar outfit CleanPeak Energy has expanded its utility-scale PV portfolio with the acquisition of three operating solar farms with a combined capacity of 14.3 MW in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

With the clean energy transition driving a global increase in demand for critical minerals, the Queensland government has declared Townsville will be home to Australia’s first state-owned processing facility for critical minerals like vanadium.

Western Australian battery technology company Altech Batteries has updated the design of its 1 MWh sodium chloride battery energy storage system, paving the way for the modular units to be stacked three high, allowing for smaller project footprints that conserves valuable land area.

Australian electric vehicle charger manufacturer Tritium will close its Brisbane manufacturing facility and move production to the United States in a bid to ensure its financial survival.

Australian-owned renewable energy investor and developer Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has signed a supply deal with Chinese battery manufacturer CATL that is expected to support the deployment of more than 10 GWh of energy storage systems over the next five years.

Following promising initial drill results from its Ramsay natural hydrogen project, Gold Hydrogen has signed two industry deals to collaborate on a proof-of-concept natural hydrogen pilot on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. If successful, it would be Australia’s first natural hydrogen project.

Researchers from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) have used advanced neutron scattering techniques to better understand what leads to catastrophic failures in lithium ion batteries.

Sydney startup AMSL Aero has been awarded $5.43 million by ARENA to develop a hydrogen-powered electric aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically. The startup has previously flown a battery-only prototype, but says adding a hydrogen fuel cell will increase the range to 1000km.

Province Resources, a Perth-based company developing an 8 GW green hydrogen project in the state’s Gascoyne region, has had additional licences granted by the WA government covering an area over 600,000 hectares, including over 864 hectares of the seabed near Carnarvon needed for export.