Oceania

In a big week for Shell, the oil major has announced two joint ventures: the first of which involves the development of one of Australia’s largest batteries at 500 MW / 1,000 MWh alongside partner Ampyr Australia. The second involves the acquisition of a hybrid wind, solar and battery project in Western Australia with the UK’s Foresight Group.

Shell Energy Australia has been awarded $9.1 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to recruit at least 40 commercial customer sites, including shopping centres and supermarkets, to begin shifting how and when they use electricity – a demonstration of the potential of flexible demand.

A plan to build a 2 GW / 20 GWh pumped hydro project in the pit of an old gold mine in southeast Queensland has been declared a ‘Coordinated Project’ by the state’s Coordinator-General, a mechanism intended to fast track the plan.

World-beating Australian solar technology company SunDrive has completed a new $21 million (USD 13 million) funding round which will help commercialise its revolutionary solar cell technology that replaces silver with copper to improve solar panel efficiency and reduce costs.

Australian electricity gen-tailer EnergyAustralia will investigate the feasibility of installing a 500 MW/2000 MWh big battery energy storage system adjacent to its 1.4 GW Mount Piper coal-fired power station in New South Wales.

The Western Australia government is partnering with United Kingdom-based electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power and Germany’s Linde Engineering in a $450,000 (USD 278,106) study to develop a business case for the manufacturing of renewable hydrogen electrolysers within the state.

Core Lithium’s Finniss Lithium Project just south of Darwin’s Port opened this week, supplying battery-grade lithium to electric vehicle giant Tesla, among others. Core Lithium plans to open processing facilities at the site by early next year.

Australia-based energy investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has sold a 49% stake in a massive $1.9 million (USD 1.2 billion) solar PV and battery energy storage project being developed in the United States to a Dutch pension asset manager.

A German startup backed by major European entrepreneurs and brands this week began the first of many strategic acquisitions in Australia, seeking to create a cross-country network and become a ‘one stop shop’ for renewable technologies with a major marketshare. Chris Williams, the founder of Natural Solar and now the CEO of 1komma5’s APAC arm, told pv magazine Australia the goal is to become the “Apple store of energy” – an opportunity he believes is well within reach given the institutional capital and scale behind the German outfit.

On the back of recent capital investment from a Canadian pension fund, NovaSource Power Services has made its first big move in the Australian market with the acquisition of First Solar’s 500 MW of operations and maintenance assets.