Oceania

Construction of the Maryvale Solar and Energy Storage project is set to begin in the coming weeks with renewables developer Gentari pressing go on the DC-coupled hybrid project being built in central western New South Wales.

Researchers in Western Australia have reviewed 36 mobile inspection robots for ground-mounted PV plants and have identified six commercial ground robots that are systematically used for this task. Their work presents the robots according to different types of locomotion, navigation technologies, communication technologies, and market status.

Voltage control specialist EcoJoule Energy has banked $15 million in capital it says will underwrite the company’s global expansion and support the wider deployment of technology designed to help stabilise the electricity grid as it adjusts to increasing levels of solar capacity.

Australia’s rapidly growing solar PV industry faces mounting cyber risks that no operator can afford to ignore. PV systems rely on intricate supply chains, incorporating hardware and software from multiple vendors. Each link in this chain – be it a component manufacturer, a software provider, or a maintenance contractor – can introduce potential entry points for cyberattacks.

The merits of Australia’s growing electric vehicle fleet are on display in Queensland and northern New South Wales where hundreds of thousands of residents remain without power in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Philippines-based energy company Acen Corporation is preparing to sign off on a $20 million investment in multiple solar PV projects with a combined capacity of about 80 MW in Malaysia as part of its joint venture with a unit of German solar developer ib vogt.

More than 16 GW of solar and wind generation and approximately 6 GW of energy storage projects could benefit from an accelerated environmental approvals process as the Australian government works to deliver critical infrastructure needed to achieve its clean energy targets, including 82% renewable electricity by 2030.

Vales Point power station owner Delta Electricity has teamed with South Korean industrial conglomerate Samsung to develop a large-scale battery project alongside the aging coal-fired plant in New South Wales.

As a federal election draws nearer, the ways in which much-needed batteries in Australia’s electricity distribution network are incentivised is becoming highly political. With the rollout of community battery projects supported by the federal government underway, industry insiders are hoping that politicians settle on measures that will make distributed battery adoption mainstream.

National transport and logistics company Centurion has added 20 battery-electric trucks from Daimler to its fleet with the new heavy vehicles powered using energy from a 4.4 MW rooftop solar installation and 10.3 MWh battery.