Oceania

Queensland network operator Powerlink has released 40 works packages for suppliers to express their interest in working on the CopperString transmission link that is to stretch across the state’s north, helping to unlock large-scale solar and wind investment along with large deposits of minerals key to the energy transition.

La Trobe University plans to build what it says will be the largest urban solar farm in Victoria, with about 4,300 solar panels to be installed at its Bundoora campus in Melbourne’s north as part of the university’s goal to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2029.

Hydrostor has penned a deal with Australian miner Perilya to build a 200 MW/1,600 MWh advanced compressed air energy storage facility in a disused mine cavity near Broken Hill in western New South Wales.

The “first sod” has been turned in the construction of the 93 MW Girgarre Solar Farm in Victoria. The project, initially developed by Peter Leeson, is an interesting case study in community engagement.

Australia’s solar market and pricing has been shaken up in recent months with the entrance of Tongwei Solar. Compounding this is the global free fall in panel pricing, which solar analyst Warwick Johnston says is yet to properly hit Australia. “There’s super cheap panels that are coming through and everyone will have to adjust their prices accordingly,” he says.

A fire that erupted on Tuesday night in one of the Tesla Megapack 2.0 battery units of the Bouldercombe battery facility in Queensland continues to burn under the supervision of emergency services.

The project team is led by the State of California through the California Energy Commission, and joined by Faraday Microgrids, and Redflow with zinc bromine flow batteries.

Queensland’s CleanCo has opened expressions of interest to renewables projects wanting to participate in the transformation of its former coal-fired Swanbank power precinct to a clean energy hub.

With the regulatory scaffolding around natural hydrogen starting to be erected across the country, the Western Australian government has confirmed it will charge a royalty on hydrogen extracted from underground geological formations, otherwise known as natural or gold hydrogen.

A major jump in small-scale air source heat pump installations has been illustrated by the Clean Energy Regulator’s latest Carbon Market Report. Australia’s large-scale renewables segment, however, is languishing with the Regulator knocking its 2023 final investment decision (FID) forecasts down from 3.5 GW to 2.5 GW. Just a 0.5 GW has reach FID in 2023 so far.