Oceania

Australian battery technology innovator Sparc Technologies is reporting “exceptional” results in its campaign to develop sustainably sourced hard carbon material for the production of anodes for the nascent sodium-ion battery market.

The Kogan Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant, which is expected to produce approximately 75 tonnes of green hydrogen annually from behind-the-meter solar energy, is nearing reality after CS Energy formalised its joint venture arrangements with ASX-listed gas company Senex Energy.

With the roll out of electric vehicles in Australia accelerating, a team of researchers from the University of Queensland explore what the impact is of charging them on a power grid under strain.

Australian renewable energy developer MPower plans to step up its activities after establishing a funding relationship with international investment firm Singapore outfit Ampyr Energy that will help finance the growth of its portfolio of mid-scale solar power and battery energy storage projects.

Plans to develop a major green hydrogen production facility near the South Australian industrial city of Whyalla has sparked global interest with the state government revealing 29 international and domestic players have signalled their interest in delivering the project.

Australia has been warned it must act swiftly to capture the economic and strategic opportunities of a booming battery industries sector that is predicted could provide $55.2 billion (USD 36.87 billion) in additional gross domestic product to the economy by the end of the decade.

Bureau Veritas tells pv magazine that there is a great deal of interest in hydrogen certification schemes in Australia, Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.

The New Zealand government will further investigate the viability of establishing a pumped hydroelectric facility on the South Island that would provide up to 8.5 TWh of annual generation and storage capacity to support the nation’s transition to 100% renewable electricity generation.

Capacity factor is often discussed when evaluating and comparing the efficiency and performance of solar farms. However, looking just at this metric can be misleading as it ignores many underlying technical and commercial factors, as solar farm specifications almost never align for a simple apples-to-apples comparison.

An international group of researchers has calculated the potential for floating solar across the world. The results show a generation potential of 9,434 TWh per year across 114,555 global reservoirs, with 30% of their area covered. The United States leads with 1,911 TWh per year of potential, with Australia coming in 8th, with 210 TWh per year.