Oceania

Australian giant AGL Energy will soon own the world’s largest ‘grid forming’ battery, with construction on its 250 MW/250 MWh big battery to begin later this year at Torrens Island, just north of Adelaide in South Australia. The battery will be delivered by Finnish technology company Wärtsilä with inverters supplied by German company SMA Solar Technology.

The world authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has issued its Sixth Assessment Report, the most scathing yet, declaring our current trajectory of global warming will reach 1.5C by 2030. The report makes clear the heightened climatic effects of climate change will only increase, with the transition to renewable energies our only hope.

South Australia is a global hero for its demonstration of a rapid transition to renewable generation. But as renewables supplied more than 60% of the state’s electricity, and pushed out coal and even gas-fired generation, cracks appeared in the system strength and inertia required to keep the grid reliably running. ElectraNet has deployed old, clean-running technology — synchronous condensers — to smooth the gaps.

PV electricity generation is a natural choice for Australia’s remote Kimberley region. State-owned energy provider Horizon Power has deployed WA Recovery Plan funds to make the most of the interplay between sun and shade and put clean energy behind the Derby community’s aspirations.

Processing nightmare, or product opportunity? Impending five-minute settlement comes at a difficult time for energy retailers. Software from across the ditch could help highlight the benefits and opportunities of more solar and a forecast uptick in battery energy storage.

Japan’s biggest oil refiner Eneos and French renewables developer Neoen have announced they will undertake a joint study looking at the potential development of an international supply chain for an affordable and stable supply of green hydrogen produced from renewable energy in South Australia.

The Australian Energy Market Operator is looking to fast-track the deployment of advanced inverter capabilities to support Australia’s “once-in-a-lifetime transition” to a power system featuring reduced synchronous generation, such as coal-fired generation.

The Australian arm of global fund manager Octopus Group has expanded its renewable energy portfolio, teaming with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to purchase the rights to develop two proposed utility scale solar-storage hybrid power plants in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales will look to improve the quality of advanced solar PV cells after the project secured a share of more than $1.5 million in the latest round of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Linkage Project Grants.

Energy industry body the Smart Energy Council has declared it may sue the Morrison government for its recent routing of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. After the federal government’s expansion of the renewable energy agency’s remit survived a challenge in the Senate this week, the illegality of the government’s attempt to fund fossil fuels may have to be settled in the courts.