Oceania

Large-scale solar’s rapidly falling costs has seen work on a record-setting number of projects get underway, worth some 2 GW of capacity. The Clean Energy Council’s Kane Thornton made the observation at its Large-scale Industry Forum in Brisbane yesterday.

Australian businesses are not waiting for lower power prices to fall. Instead, they are turning to roofop PV in record numbers, with a new report illustrating how C&I solar installations increased 60% from 2016 to 2017.

The 87 MW Beryl Solar Farm is set to become one of the first in the world to deploy First Solar’s Series 6 modules. The U.S. module manufacturer is the project developer, with Downer selected to commence construction in July.

Premium PV module producer and supplier LG Electronics Australia has increased its product warranty to 25 years. Having sold some 750,000 modules in Australia to date, LG reports a “very, very small” number of warranty claims.

There is already enough renewable energy projects under construction or generating to meet the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The Clean Energy Regulator officially confirmed today that the RET would be met, making a mockery of claims by former Environment Minister Greg Hunt that it was “simply not possible” to meet the original RET.

Single-axis tracking technology will be deployed in the vast majority of Australian large scale solar projects currently under development. Rystad Energy made the observation in its latest research note, adding that at present two companies share 90% of the confirmed orders.

A new partnership is looking to introduce 10-year solar leases to WA. By targeting new builds and housing developments and halving the standard lease duration, the partnership aims to make solar leases attractive – where previously they have failed to gain traction.

Green Energy Markets’ small-scale solar figures for April reveal that above 100 MW is emerging as the new normal for the segment in 2018. While the month was below the record-setting 127 MW in March, April’s 109 MW indicates that installations north of 100 MW can be expected from the residential and small commercial sector for some time into the future.

Through a study funded by ARENA, the distributed database platform blockchain will be used by Latrobe Valley dairy farmers to buy and sell locally generated renewable energy.

Bringing electricity demand closer into line with supply will be one of the keys if Australia is to meet the disruptive challenges facing its market, and it’s an approach that could restore the country’s role as an energy leader. A steep challenge but optimistic outlook was offered by AEMO CEO Aubrey Zibelman in a wide-ranging address earlier this week.