Oceania

The largest shopping centre solar and battery project in Australia is now producing energy. In Sydney’s south-west airport corridor Narellan Town Centre has just completed the first stage of its solar and battery microgrid.

Australia is among more than 100 countries that have committed to triple the world’s renewable energy generation capacity within six years, signing a pledge on the sidelines of the United Nation’s COP28 climate summit being staged in the United Arab Emirates.

The Western Australian government has just allocated $220 million to support Griffin coal mine, so operations may continue until June 2026. The funding was announced by Premier Roger Cook and the Minister for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Bill Johnston, who earlier announced he is stepping down from cabinet last week.

Energy giant BP announced today it would take full ownership of solar and wind energy developer Lightsource BP once a deal – pertaining to the purchase of the remaining renewables company’s shares BP does not own – goes through next year.

Through a co-funding deal with Victoria’s newly revived SEC, Equis Development has reached financial close and begun construction on phase 1 of its giant 1.2 GW Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub. Plans for the hub, which includes gigawatt hours of storage, seem to have shifted somewhat, with phase 1 now three independent batteries of 200 MW with either two- or four-hours of storage.

A study by engineers at UNSW, published in the Renewable Energy journal, shows that aerosols and greenhouse gas emissions reduce the productivity of photovoltaic installations and that this differs according to the global region.  

Lodestone Energy has started generating electricity at its solar farm in Kaitaia, New Zealand’s largest solar farm and first utility scale solar installation to date.

The sun is shining, the weather is sweet. In this Opinion and Analysis piece, Lumi Adisa, Director of Energy Market Analytics at NEOM and ex-Investment Director of Energy Markets at Octopus Investments Australia, presents a deep dive into the unprecedented impact of rooftop solar in the NEM. As rooftop solar continues to drive changes in the intraday demand and price trends, it is evident that customers will remain a significant part of the energy transition for years to come.

Planning permits have been granted to two large battery projects by Victoria’s planning department: the existing Elaine Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) by Akaysha Energy has been approved for expansion at its four-hour energy battery, and Flow Energy’s BESS project at Bennett’s Creek that will further transform the former coal country into a hub for 24/7 renewable energy.

A fire at one of Australia’s biggest lithium mines has left it unable to process ore for the past days. The fire at Mineral Resources’ Wodgina mine in Western Australia has since been brought under control and the company says shipping will not be impacted.