Oceania

Chinese/Australian developer Maoneng has signed a 15-year PPA to provide energy company AGL with 300 MW of PV projects, to provide up to 800,000 MWh of electricity per year. The projects form part of AGL’s plan to replace the coal-fired Liddell Power Station, set to close in 2022.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it will award multiple Australian universities and research institutes with a total of $29.2 million to support early-stage research into new solar innovations.

Ground was broken on the 60 MW project in a ceremony held on Monday. Developer Windlab limited says it expects the $160 million project to be completed in late 2018.

Under the Cooperative Research Center Program 4th Selection Round, the Australian Federal Government will extend a grant for a smart home energy management system. Other awarded green projects involve an energy storage technology alternative for lithium-ion batteries and innovative generation of low cost, zero-emission, reliable electricity.

Independent oil and gas producer Woodside will deploy a battery and microgrid solution on one of its offshore gas platforms. The system is planned to reduce the facility’s gas consumption for electricity supply and its O&M costs.

A funding agreement has been signed between Australian solar cell producer Greatcell and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which pledged to allocate $6 million to underpin commercial development of perovskite solar cells.

pv magazine Australia speaks to conference presenters on solar energy for development outcomes via academic-industry collaboration.

A major milestone was surpassed in the Australian PV market last month, indicating that the rooftop solar sector is in robust health. However, not tracked in the figures underlying the record are large commercial rooftops and distributed battery storage, and reports are that here too strong growth is being achieved.

The not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association (ATA) has launched a free service through which homeowners looking to install a solar+storage system can get information on how to best size their system.

As it officially came into force on Wednesday, the International Solar Alliance was welcomed by Australia, one of its 19 founding members.