Oceania

Sun Cable’s troubled $30-plus billion (USD 20 billion) mega solar and storage project has received a welcome boost with resources company Tivan announcing it has penned a deal with the developer for the potential offtake of up to 300 MW of renewable electricity to support a planned critical minerals processing facility in the Northern Territory.

French power electronics specialist Schneider Electric has announced the Australian launch of a new electric vehicle charger that incorporates new features aimed at making at-home charging easier to install and more cost-effective to use.

A Victorian solar installer that ignored a seven-metre fall risk on a job site in Geelong has been convicted and ordered to pay almost $40,000 after pleading guilty to three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Three years after French renewable energy developer Neoen first broke ground at the site of its Western Downs Green Energy Hub in Queensland’s Western Downs region, the last of the more than one million panels has been installed as the 400 MW solar farm nears 100% completion.

Virtual Power Plants, or VPPs, are relatively mature in Australia due to the country’s high penetration of, and familiarity with, distributed energy resources. But claims of VPP success and participation may be overblown, with a considerable gaps between the numbers some platforms are claiming and the realms of possibility.

Western Australia will now offer rural and metro-area residents in its main grid the same electricity supply. The move comes after a seemingly innocuous rule change saw regional customers unable to run their air conditioning at the same time as their cooktops – a drama pv magazine Australia first reported in July 2022 which led to sustained community pressure.

Canadian giant Brookfield, which is currently in the process of formally acquiring Origin Energy, has announced its partnership with little-known developer Greenleaf Renewables. The partnership, Brookfield said, will contribute to the 14 GW of renewable generation and storage it plans to build to decarbonise Origin.

Australia’s lithium and base metals like nickel, aluminium and copper are forecast to earn around $47 billion (USD 31.8 billion) in the current financial year, according to the Australian government’s latest forecasts.

Brisbane company Li-S Energy has developed its third-generation semi-solid state lithium sulfur battery cells. The 20-layer cells, produced in its facility in Victoria, are lightweight and energy dense, reaching over 400 Wh/kg.

The New South Wale government’s competitive tender for 380 MW of ‘firming’ battery capacity has now opened.