Oceania

The Queensland government has unveiled its own Critical Mineral Strategy, with a decidedly more focussed policy approach than its recent federal counterpart.

Decarbon Venture, a startup cofounded by an outback-living Australian entrepreneur, has launched what it claims to be the world’s first “swappable” solar generator at half the weight and double the power rating of other products on the market.

A panel of experts debated how plausible it is for Australia to enter the battery manufacturing space, and acting-CEO of one of the only companies to produce lithium hydroxide in Australia, IGO, discussed the acute challenges of setting up a refinery onshore during the WA Renewables and Critical Minerals Superpower Summit on Monday.

In two to three years, the number of DER control devices plugged into Australia’s national grid are predicted to hit critical mass, bringing with it the potential for wide-scale ramifications in the event of a successful cyberattack. The second in a two part series, pv magazine Australia outlines what the consequences could involve.

With increasing numbers of resources companies turning to renewable energy to cut costs and carbon emissions, independent power producer Pacific Energy has been awarded a contract to deliver a combined 62 MW of wind and solar generation and battery energy storage to help power a gold mine in remote Western Australia.

One of Australia’s largest commercial-scale green hydrogen projects has been given the go ahead with the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group reaching financial close on an estimated $53 million (USD 35.44 million) renewable hydrogen plant to be built at Wodonga in northern Victoria.

Australia’s world-leading uptake of distributed energy resources introduces potential new entry points to the grid, ushering in a legion of complex and novel cybersecurity considerations. The first in a two-part series, pv magazine Australia talks to experts about at what’s being done in this rapidly evolving landscape and where vulnerabilities lay.

BHP is planning to install more than 500 MW additional wind and solar power backed by battery energy storage in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in the next seven years as it looks to slash the use of gas and diesel in its iron ore operations.

Commissioning of one of Australia’s first solar-powered utility scale vanadium flow batteries has commenced with developer Yadlamalka Energy confirming that construction of its $22 million Spencer Energy Project in South Australia is now complete.

Critical energy minerals company Vecco Group has celebrated the official opening of Australia’s first commercial-scale vanadium battery electrolyte manufacturing facility in Townsville by announcing it has secured a contract to provide Energy Queensland with the state’s first grid-scale vanadium flow battery.