Oceania

The past week saw more records broken in the National Electricity Market (NEM), with instantaneous renewable generation hitting a record 59.8% in the afternoon of Sunday 19 September 2021, before breaking 60% for the first time on Monday 20 September 2021. Sunny weather across both days meant rooftop solar made up around half of renewable generation at this peak output, reducing operational demand and suppressing prices during the day.

The Australian-Singapore group behind a proposed 20 GW solar PV farm and 42 GWh battery energy storage project being developed in Australia’s remote far north has hinted other, similar-sized projects are already in the pipeline.

Representatives from some of Australia’s most prominent renewable energy companies have united in their criticism of the Energy Security Board’s proposal for consumers to pay conventional generators such as coal and gas power plants an extra fee for their capacity, not just the actual power they produce.

The last of the New South Wales coal-fired power plants will be shut by 2040 at the latest after electricity gen-tailer EnergyAustralia announced it would bring forward the closure date of its 1.4 GW Mt Piper power station by two years.

Australian energy utility AGL’s large-scale battery energy storage strategy has received a major boost with a 50 MW/100 MWh battery project planned for the outback city of Broken Hill getting the tick of approval from the New South Wales state government.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has confirmed Energy Developments Limited is poised to begin construction of a new solar farm and battery energy storage system that will more than triple the solar PV generation capacity at the Anglo-Australian multinational’s $2.6 billion bauxite mining operation at Weipa in far north Queensland.

The Australian Energy Regulator has filed a lawsuit against the Hornsdale Power Reserve, which is owned and operated by French renewable energy developer Neoen, alleging it failed to provide the grid security services it was paid to deliver.

In reportedly the largest ever contested resolution in Australian corporate history, 55% of AGL shareholders have this afternoon voted for the company to adopt Paris-aligned climate targets in both of its demerged businesses.

A bidding war to buy AusNet and its Victorian electricity and gas assets has broken out between Canadian-headquartered Brookfield and Australia’s largest gas pipeline operator, APA Group.

Renewables developer Edify Energy has been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production plant of up to 1 GW, as well as a behind-the-meter solar and battery storage facility within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville, northern Queensland.