Oceania

German-headquartered project developer juwi Australia is sharpening its focus towards developing utility scale PV projects, after having previously delivered hybrid projects such as its DeGrussa plant in Western Australia. To pursue the shift, the company has appointed Cameron Garnsworthy as managing director of juwi Renewable Energy Pty Ltd.

While the Hornsdale Power Reserve “is doing its job” and is performing as expected, owner Neoen has urged market observers not jump to conclusions as to its profitability based on its arbitrage trading over the short term.

The proposed 50,000 home virtual power plant launched by the South Australian state government, in partnership with Tesla, is a big deal. But it does beg a number of questions as to how it will be realized and what the implications of the project could be.

South Australia could play host to the world’s largest deployment of residential solar+storage in the form of a virtual power plant. The scheme, announced by SA Premier Jay Weatherill on the election campaign trail, could see 250 MW of rooftop PV and 650 MWh of battery storage added to 50,000 homes over 4.5 years.

Issuing a call for action, a report commissioned by the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies outlines Australia’s opportunity to expand along the estimated $2 trillion lithium chain in the next two years.

The Austrian inverter specialist is launching a new version of its Energy Package upgraded with storage units from LG Chem.

In addition to entering an agreement to purchase three hydro power stations in Australia, New Zealand’s energy retailer has signed three PPAs for wind and solar projects in Victoria and New South Wales. 

Children at two New South Wales schools have started the new school year this week in modular classrooms powered by renewable energy.

A 100 kW solar PV plant has taken to the water in the northern New South Wales city of Lismore. The project was realized based on a unique community ownership model.

The number of battery storage systems being installed alongside PV doubled in 2017. The latest data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows that 3,763 battery storage systems were installed alongside a small-scale PV array, up from 1,566 in 2016.