Oceania

CEP.Energy has joined the race that stores the nation, the race, that is, for big battery supremacy. Joining giants like AGL, Origin Energy and Neoen, CEP.Energy has announced plans for a 1.2 GW megabattery in the Hunter region of New South Wales. The battery is one of four in a 2 GW battery storage portfolio planned throughout Australia.

Wood Mackenzie has called on policymakers to revise the Renewable Energy Target with more ambitious goals and, concordantly, large-scale investment in grid flexibility to ensure new renewables can join the grid. If we don’t act in this pivotal moment, WoodMac believes we will be left holding stranded assets.

Australia’s largest energy retailer, AGL Energy, has revealed a stunning $2.69 billion write-down to its asset value with plunging power prices taking a toll on its renewable energy operations.

Australia’s embrace of solar PV continues to scale new heights but industry consultancy SunWiz has issued a word of caution, suggesting “increasing headwinds in the industry” could curtail growth in 2021.

Victoria is set to welcome another large-scale solar farm to the grid with the 149 MWp DC Glenrowan West facility moving into the final phase of construction.

The Australian arm of South Korean solar technology giant Hanwha Q-Cells has extended its reach, launching into the New Zealand energy market.

New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission today released its long-anticipated advice to the government on how to reshape the economy to meet the country’s domestic and international climate change obligations. The document sets out three emissions budgets, covering 15 years to 2035 in five-yearly plans. It also provides advice on the direction policy should take to achieve the country’s 2050 net-zero goal.

For the transport sector, which is responsible for half of New Zealand’s energy-related emissions, the commission suggests a sweeping set of changes to electrify the country’s car fleet and to replace imported fuels with local renewable electricity. It’s exciting to see a national-level plan that actually cuts emissions. But it raises two questions: is it feasible, and is it the best or only option?

Researchers from Swinburne University and China’s Shaanxi Normal University have managed to develop a novel catalyst for highly efficient production of green hydrogen from seawater via solar. This catalyst, which required researchers to invent a prototype device called a ‘Ocean-H2-Rig’, highlights the potential of this technology and that we are only just now starting to scratch the surface.

Flinders University in Adelaide has announced its campuses and facilities are now officially 100% powered by renewable energy from campus-based solar arrays and a local wind farm.