Oceania

The Supermarket Wars have taken to the aisles of renewable generation as each grocer strives for greater renewable integration. This week, Coles Group signed a 10-year PPA with QLD state-owned generator CleanCo to source more than 90% of its QLD energy requirements from the as yet completed Western Downs Green Power Hub.

While long commissioning delays and approval processes continue to hamper Australia’s utility scale market segment, smaller projects are surging ahead. And given the shift in the market, argues Fimer Australia’s Aaron Zadeh, inverter selection requires a rethink.

The Western Australian Government has invited Expressions of Interest from around the world into its potentially 1.5 GW wind and solar hydrogen hub at Okajee Strategic Industrial Area. WA’s Mid-West region has some of the world’s best solar and wind resources which could feed the development of WA’s green hydrogen economy.

Increasing transformer reliability and performance has the potential to better control voltages in the grid, and enable greater connection of renewables. With its first major launch since Hitachi finalised its US$11 billion acquisition of ABB Power Grids in July, the company shows how digitalisation of transformers can help smooth the energy transition.

Solar panels are growing to produce higher output, racking needs to evolve in tandem. Industry participants have contributed to a new Australian-manufactured rail that is engineered to ensure safety, longevity and the needs of installers working on residential and commercial rooftop projects.

“We’ve put together the best components to make a unique Australian-designed solution that is compliant to the new battery standards,” says EVO Power’s Jamie Allen. Off grid or upmarket, just add solar.

The Australian Government has finally announced new long term funding and an expanded remit for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) beyond 2022. The funding package, which looks more like a cut than anything else, pushes investment away from solar and wind and toward fossil fuel enabling technologies like carbon capture and storage. 

With new solar coming online or joining the queue at the back of the grid bottleneck, WePower’s Marketplace acts as a connective tissue between renewable energy generators and the coal intensive steel manufacturing industry. WePower then, is helping to build Australia’s green steel industry of the future. WePower’s Harley Tempest sat down with pv magazine to discuss.

UNSW Faculty of Engineering doctoral researcher Bruno Vicari Stefani won the University’s Virtual 3 Minute Thesis Final by creatively reimagining the fable of the Three Little Pigs to demonstrate how combining hydrogen with low-cost silicon in solar can improve efficiency.

In a week dominated by the Morrison Government’s announcement of its gas-led strategy for economic recovery, it also committed $250 million to critical transmission infrastructure projects. At the same time TransGrid announced 6,900 MW of renewable investment interest in its New England Transmission Infrastructure project.