Oceania

Dr. Brett Hallam of the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy engineering has been awarded a prestigious State Premier’s Prize for Science and Engineering.

As part of the $2 billion affordable energy plan, the Queensland Government has announced it will invest $40 million in schemes to improve access to both solar energy and storage systems.

RES Australia has announced financial close on the Emerald Solar Park, a 68 MW PV project to be located in the Central Highlands region of Queensland. The project is the first in Australia to be supported by a PPA with a corporate off-taker.

Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE CalLab has confirmed that China’s Longi Green Energy Technology has achieved a record 22.71% conversion efficiency with its monocrystalline passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells.

Chinese PV component suppliers and project developers are continuing to push strongly in to international markets and are eyeing up new opportunities in Australia. Tenders, hybrid arrays and agri-PV all represent opportunities.

The Victorian Andrews Labor Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) has passed into law. The move mandates 25% of the state’s electricity is to be sourced from renewables by 2020 and 40% by 2025.

The future of solar deployment in Western Australia remains uncertain under the Federal Government’s National Energy Guarantee policy. Excluded from the program, WA solar proponents report that market conditions “may get even harder” for PV in the state.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will provide $94 million as the sole debt financier of Australia’s first co-developed wind, solar and storage array. The 60 MW Kennedy Energy Park is being developed by Windlab and Eurus Energy and will combine 43.2 MW in wind capacity, 15 MW of solar PV, and 2 MWh of battery storage.

The buoyancy of the Australia PV market is evident in the attendance figures from the All Energy Australia conference and trade show in Melbourne last week. Event organizers have reported that while the numbers are still being finalized, it appears that attendance has increased 40% YoY.

Australia’s Turnbull government has finally plotted a course in terms of a post-2020 energy policy, announcing its National Energy Guarantee mechanism.  The move means it is ignoring the recommendations of its own electricity market review conducted by its Chief Scientist, which had advocated for a Clean Energy Target.