Oceania

Australia’s electricity retailers have been ranked from best to worst in terms of green credentials, igniting calls for retailers to make emissions information public and transparent.

The company behind bill management platform 1bill on Monday announced it will invest more than $2 million in the energy software company Accurassi. The investment will see Accurassi build a platform for energy retailers to accelerate the transition to green energy.

After the deluge of announcements last year, 2022 will see the trickle of big batteries actually operating in Australia turn to a flood. According to Rystad Energy, the country’s battery capacity is set to double before the year is out.

As Australia’s federal election looms, the Clean Energy Council has released a set of nine policy suggestions to realise not only Australia’s decarbonisation, but its potential as a clean energy superpower. The suggestions range from electrifying everything, allocating $1 billion to transition coal communities, and setting hydrogen blending targets for gas networks.

Standalone power systems utilising solar PV and battery technology continue to gain traction in the Australian market with New South Wales Government-owned network service provider Essential Energy announcing it will seek input from customers living at the “edge of the grid” as it seeks to expand its roll out of the off-grid technology.

Thai-owned Ratch Australia has revealed plans to develop a 70 MW solar PV and large-scale battery energy storage project in the heart of Victoria’s coal country after receiving planning approval from the state government for the $105 million Morwell Solar Farm.

Renewable energy investors’ appetite for large-scale development in Australia appears far from sated with the New South Wales Government revealing almost 50 new solar PV, wind and energy storage projects, totalling more than 34 GW, have been proposed for the South-West Renewable Energy Zone.

The Western Australian coastal town of Kalbarri can now be powered by an entirely renewable energy solution utilising rooftop solar and wind generation coupled with battery storage with state government-owned utility Western Power confirming the state’s largest renewable energy microgrid has been commissioned.

The majority of voters in Australia’s historical coal and gas heartlands of New South Wales and Queensland believe the states’ future economic prosperity lies in clean industries, including renewable energy manufacturing and exports, and mining for critical battery minerals.

Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins is spearheading a campaign to have cricket clubs around the nation install solar PV systems in a bid to reduce carbon emissions, declaring it is time for the sport to do its bit to tackle climate change.