Oceania

Helen Haines, MP for the Victorian electorate of Indi, will today put a Bill before Parliament that would underwrite and provide technical support to community renewable energy projects in regional areas, and mandate the opportunity for community to buy in to large-scale projects.

In the middle of Australia’s most iconic natural landscape, the township of Jabiru has begun its transition from uranium-mine support community, to Indigenous cultural hub and tourism centre. The local arm of German renewable energy pioneer, juwi brings its deep experience in off-grid power systems to the project.

Hybrid energy systems are blooming in Australia’s remote locations, as renewables are increasingly partnered with gas or diesel to advance the greening of desert industries and communities that operate far from the grid.

Large swaths of low-cost land: check. Lots of sun and wind: check. The ability to transport green hydrogen cost-effectively to energy importing economies: check. Then you’re in the race to become one of the “renewable energy superpowers” of the low-carbon economy. A growing number of countries are assessing their renewable resources and natural attributes and positioning themselves to become green hydrogen exporters. However, not all are created equal.

With a state election looming and a Liberal Opposition eager to embrace renewables, Western Australia’s McGowan government has announced a $259 million renewables-focussed package in a bid to retain power and primacy in the progressive space.

Little more than a seed of an idea and the registration of Zero Carbon Hydrogen as a trademark has proven enough to send West Australian company Province Resources status, and share prices, through the roof.

Renewables developer Neoen has released its 2020 results, announcing an 18% increase in revenue from 2019, a significant portion of which materialised from its Australian assets including the Hornsdale big battery.

The Australian Energy Regulator has released its Default Market Offer for 2021-2022, and it is another fall in electricity prices, especially if you live in South Australia, New South Wales or south-east Queensland. The regulator says one of the main factors driving the now continuous fall in electricity prices is the investment in renewables, in particular the estimated uptake of rooftop solar.

The West Australian Wholesale Energy Market (WEM) is in for a major shake-up with the State Government’s Energy Transformation Taskforce unveiling plans for a redesign which it said will fully integrate renewable energy – in all its guises – into the power system.

Smart metering services provider Intellihub has outlined a series of targeted reforms – including strengthening testing requirements – in its submission to the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) review into the sector’s regulatory framework, cautioning that unless changes are made Australia risks being left behind.