Oceania

West Australian company Altech Chemicals has expanded its research and development laboratories to test how its “breakthrough” alumina-coated silicon for lithium-ion battery anodes performs for higher powered applications.

US battery company Powin has agreed to deploy 1.7 GWh of energy storage systems in Australia over the next two years after entering a partnership with Victorian developer Akaysha Energy. The news tops a big month for Akaysha which was acquired by US giant BlackRock two weeks ago.

The Australian Energy Market Operator warns every Australian jurisdiction in the national grid could see electricity demand outstripping supply within the decade – though only if anticipated renewable projects do not come to fruition.

The University of Wollongong professor behind the capillary-fed electrolyser breakthrough now being commercialised by Hysata has received grant funding to develop a cell for extracting pure hydrogen from methane mixtures.

The 225 MW Oxley Solar Farm, proposed in northern NSW, has agreed to pay $5.9 million as a “community benefit contribution.” The payment links to a recent list of demands from councils within the New England Renewable Energy Zone fed up large-scale projects deliver “significant financial and social costs with little tangible benefit to our regions.”

A former car manufacturing site turn “innovation precinct” in Tonsely Adelaide is now home to one of Australia’s largest rooftop arrays at 4.83 MW. Completed by CleanPeak Energy, the system will supply around 75% of the energy needs of the 56 hectare site, with batteries set to arrive before summer.

Germany has launched the world’s first operational hydrogen trains and US researchers have presented a novel design for a tubular PEM fuel cell. ABB and Hydrogen Optimized, meanwhile, have expanded their strategic ties and Slovakia has moved forward with a major gas-blending pilot project.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has urged the federal government to take advantage of the global shift towards renewable energy to unlock hundreds of thousands of jobs and inject billions of dollars into the economy.

Renewable energy investors have proposed more than 40 new clean energy projects totalling more than 17 GW of generation and storage capacity for a coordinated renewable energy zone to be established in the Illawarra region on the New South Wales south coast.

A team of Australian researchers have developed a way to use rooftop solar PV to run air conditioners to pre-cool residential and commercial buildings. They have identified several factors that could help reduce a building’s energy costs.