Oceania

With Australia’s unstoppable clean energy transition picking up pace, the question of jobs and how to reskill fossil fuel workforces is again at centre stage. Over the weekend, the Victorian government announced an initiative to encourage women to enter the male-dominated industry, while the federal government announced it would begin delivering reports on energy sector jobs to avoid skills shortages.

Risen Energy has extended the product warranty on its Australian residential modules from 15 to 25 years. The news comes just weeks after SunPower Maxeon pushed the Australian market by increasing its new warranties to 40 years.

A joint fund with roughly $125 million from both the Australian and German governments has opened today and is seeking applications from projects across the value chain of renewable green hydrogen.

The Victorian government will fund a floating solar project, an initiative to locally manufacture solar batteries, and install a portable renewable energy system for community services during emergencies as part of its Latrobe Valley program.

A consortium led by Australian financial group Macquarie Asset Management will acquire French solar developer Reden Solar. The $3.7 billion (€2.5 billion) transaction is expected to be finalised in the third quarter of this year.

Construction of an innovative solar to green hydrogen microgrid in the Daintree Rainforest is set to commence with the Federal Government signing off on a multi-million-dollar deal to bring renewable power to communities in the World Heritage-listed region in Far North Queensland.

Australian energy major AGL has rejected a second buyout offer from a consortium including software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, saying it continued to undervalue the power producer.

We are living through uncertain times. Despite the urgency of the energy transition and the substantial and growing opportunities for new utility-scale (and larger) renewables developments, risks arise for owners, developers, lenders, investors and contractors.

Researchers from Australia’s Monash University have created a new generation of lithium-sulfur batteries that they say provides a cheaper, cleaner and faster-charging energy storage solution that outlasts lithium-ion alternatives and is rechargeable hundreds of times without failing.

Emerging Western Australian renewable energy project developer Frontier Energy is pushing ahead with “significantly advanced” plans to develop a large-scale solar PV farm in the state’s southwest after the successful completion of an $8 million capital raising.