Oceania

BHP Nickel West has extended its PPA with Southern Cross Energy to 2038 as the mining giant looks to integrate renewable energy into its processes toward the goal of meeting its emissions reductions goals and producing ‘sustainable nickel’, a necessary requirement for potential client Tesla. The extended deal begins at Nickel West’s Leinster and Mount Keith operations with the development of an 18.5 MW solar farm and battery storage system.

Stable pricing, stable product performance, and rapid after-sales service: These are the pillars on which Chinese PV manufacturing giant Longi’s rapid growth in the Australian market are built – says Stephen Zhang, the MD of Longi Australia. And as the company moves towards another year of doubling its shipments to Australia, its local presence and team remains a vital part of its strategy.

Over 50 stand-alone power systems (SPS) units installed by Western Power are now operating in regional properties across Western Australia (WA). The landmark off-grid program is the largest single such deployment by a network business in the country.

The 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub is set to commence construction imminently, after Neoen achieved financial close on the project. The solar farm is set to be Australia’s largest, and indeed the largest in Neoen’s global portfolio, generating enough solar energy to power every home on the Sunshine Coast.

The island nation has agreed a deal with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to develop at least 15 MW of generation capacity in a US$15 million project.

BOC will compress green hydrogen produced at newer than new HyP SA, which taps the state’s currently over-abundant solar generation, and deliver it to industrial customers in South Australia and Western Australia. The arrangement is expected to seed a foundation market for the carbon-free product and demonstrate its viability.

Never heard of CEP.Energy? The new green energy fund is set to become a renewable powerhouse, installing gigawatts of solar, plus batteries big and small across industrial estates and retail centres around the NEM. Institutional investors are making this virtual-power-plant vision a reality.

The 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for the Pilbara last week gained Major Project Status, and with it Federal Government support in streamlining ongoing approvals to commencement of construction in 2026.

Rooftop solar installation figures in Victoria have plunged dramatically in recent months but an easing of Covid-19 restrictions has provided a welcome boost for the state’s small-scale solar installers.

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) has taken aim at the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) transmission access reform proposal, declaring it will raise costs and stifle investment.