Oceania

A 288 MW solar farm in Tasmania’s Northern Midlands region has been identified as the first of a series of large-scale renewable energy generation projects set to be developed by newly launched clean energy startup TasRex.

Researchers at Victoria’s Monash University are working to develop a tool that can be used to predict and manage system instability associated with connecting inverter-based generation such as batteries, solar, and wind into weaker parts of Australia’s national energy grid.

The Western Australian government is calling for input from industry to help drive major transmission network expansion in the South West Interconnected System as the state powers towards a large-scale, high-renewable grid of the future.

With five solar farms already under construction, New Zealand renewables developer Lodestone Energy has teamed with a trio of British-based companies to develop another nine PV projects that are expected to deliver more than 500 GWh in additional solar generation.

The marks of industry have forever changed the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, edged by the Blue Mountains to the south and ancient rainforests to the north. Coal has been mined here for more than 200 years, providing generations of people with good livelihoods and lives. But the end of coal in the Hunter does not spell the end of communities. Quite the opposite.

Australian battery recycling startup Renewable Metals intends to scale and commercialise its lithium-ion battery recycling technology that converts battery waste into high-value battery metals after closing an $8 million (USD 5.08 million) investment round.

Australian technology company Infravision plans to “supercharge” the development of its drone-enabled powerline stringing system and software technology solutions after securing a “game-changing” $36 million (USD 23 million) from global energy and utility investors.

Australia will need a 40% increase in workers in building and engineering trades by 2050 to enable the energy transition, a new report from the Australian government says.

Fortescue has become a “lead investor” in, and signed a 1 GW supply deal with, US-startup Electric Hydrogen, or EH2. Fortescue, which is pursuing both green hydrogen projects and electrolyser manufacturing, says EH2’s systems produce hydrogen at “transformational” low cost.

Renewables player Octopus Investments Australia, a subsidiary of UK-based Octopus Group, has purchased Queensland’s largest battery project, the 500 MW / 1 GWh Blackstone project just outside of Brisbane.