Oceania

AUSTRALIA’S largest planned Renewable Energy Zone has been ‘swamped’ by investors with the New South Wales government revealing that more than 80 new solar, wind and energy storage projects, totalling a massive 34 GW, had been proposed for the New England region.

Researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University have used lessons learned during the development of a solar PV powered microgrid at its Clayton campus to produce an interactive ‘toolbox’ designed to support the uptake of the technology in commercial, industrial and community settings.

Australia’s biggest energy retailer Origin Energy will team with Japan’s largest oil refiner Eneos to explore the potential of establishing a commercial-scale green hydrogen supply chain between Australia and Japan.

Photon Energy reported raised revenue from sales of electricity in the second quarter of the year, compared with 12 months earlier, but said grid hold-ups at 14.6 MW of solar projects Down Under had affected performance.

The Energy Security Board’s newly revealed market reforms have sparked widespread scrutiny with the Clean Energy Council declaring that among the recommendations are proposals that risk further undermining confidence in future investments in clean energy generation.

A parliamentary inquiry has been told Australia’s ageing transmission network “urgently” needs upgrading to deliver new solar PV and wind power to cities as the nation’s transition to renewable energy generation continues to accelerate.

The world’s biggest solar PV and storage project is set to get even larger with the Singapore-based Sun Cable announcing it plans to increase the renewable energy generation and storage capacity of the $26 billion Australia-ASEAN Power Link being developed in northern Australia.

The Energy Security Board’s market reforms have come under fresh scrutiny after ministers met last week under a veil of secrecy, apparently stirring deep rifts between federal and state ministers and other stakeholders. While it remains unclear what the Board’s proposed capacity market, dubbed by some as ‘coal-keeper’, might look like, Dan Cass, who leads energy policy at the Australia Institute, told pv magazine Australia as long as Angus Taylor isn’t steering, he’s optimistic that state governments and the ESB could work towards a reasonable outcome.

Australian electricity network owner Spark Infrastructure has accepted a $5.2 billion takeover bid from a North American consortium led by private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

For the first time in the history of our national energy market, solar generated more electricity than coal, providing 41.4% of the national market on Sunday, while coal accounted for 41.2%.