Oceania

Australia’s big energy providers are being forced to take stock of the costs of fossil fuels versus renewables. One industry analyst and commentator has a fresh recipe for success for Australia’s biggest wholesaler and retailer of gas.

Speculation will be rife as to the cause of the fire which destroyed one Tesla Megapack and damaged another in Moorabool on Friday. Investigators are waiting until the site is deemed safe to begin their forensic examination.

The time is now for the energy consumer, says Anna Bruce, as energy “prosumers” produce, consume, and provide electricity and grid services in previously unimagined ways. Bruce, a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales’ School of Solar Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE), leads work on the role of distributed energy resources in the energy transition, analysing firsthand the dizzying level of complexity it brings.

The Queensland government released its Climate Action Plan 2030 online yesterday, an apparent roadmap for the Sunshine State to meet its renewable 2030 and 2050 targets while creating jobs and helping the economy recover from the impact of Covid-19. But is the Action Plan merely a plan to take action?

Acciona Energía has received approval from the Queensland state government for an expansion of its plans for the Aldoga Solar Farm outside Gladstone. Originally slated as a 250 MW project, the project will now reach a capacity of 600 MWp and work to support the development of Gladstone’s green hydrogen hub.

Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans, has announced a newly accredited Battery Stewardship Scheme that he says will triple the battery collection rate over a period five years and divert 90% of the collected materials from landfill. 

Mining giant BHP has taken another step on the path towards a renewable energy future, commissioning a 48.2 MW solar + storage hybrid power facility that will help power its Nickel West mining operations in regional Western Australia.

Petrol retailer Ampol will install more than 120 ultra-fast electric vehicle charging stations across its service station network after the Australian Renewable Energy Agency awarded it a share of almost $25 million in funding designed to drive the uptake of electric vehicles in Australia.

Standalone power system specialist Boundary Power has teamed up with Australian hydrogen technology company LAVO to investigate the potential application of its renewable hydrogen energy storage system in power solutions suitable for off-grid and edge-of-grid customers.

With rooftop PV and large-scale solar helping drive the penetration of renewables in Australia to record highs, the Energy Security Board has delivered its final advice on its redesign of the National Electricity Market but the some of the proposed reforms have drawn criticism from the renewable energy sector.