Power Ledger: “Japan is a really good market”
Blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading will be trialed by Japanese utility KEPCO, under a new agreement with Power Ledger announced this week. Meagan Cojocar, an analyst with the Perth-based company says Japan is the ideal location for the Power Ledger as the country’s energy drive self sufficiently and its “crypto friendly” attitude.
Fronius introduces Ohmpilot – water heating with excess PV power
Fronius is introducing its Ohmpilot solution to the Australian market. The Ohmpilot is a consumption regulator that can utilize solar electricity not used in the home to heat water in boilers or buffer storage tanks.
Image Resources to power mineral sands operation with 3-4 MW PV
Image Resources has signed a deal with Perth-based Sunrise Energy Group to purchase the power from a 3-4 MW solar PV array, to power 25% of its mineral sands mining operations.
COAG energy ministers sign off on progressing the NEG
Work on the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) policy will continue, with the COAG Energy Council approving its progress today. The detailed policy will be considered by state, federal and territory energy ministers for final approval in August.
NEG likely to move forward, emission reduction remains sticking point
Signs continue to mount that Friday’s COAG Energy Council meeting will agree to move forward with the National Energy Guarantee mechanism. This comes despite continuing and serious objections from some states to the meagre 26%-on-2005 emission reduction target.
March rooftop solar installs sets new record, exceeding NEG modelling by 50%
Rooftop PV installation rates in Australia are breaking all previous records. March saw the highest number of rooftop systems ever installed in the country, worth a capacity of some 127 MW.
Australia’s slow march towards a National Energy Guarantee is gathering pace
David Blowers, an Energy Fellow with the Grattan Institute, reports that “solid progress” has been made on the design of the National Energy Guarantee.
Clean Energy Council backs the NEG, with conditions
The CEC has encouraged COAG Energy Council to support the further development of the proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) in its meeting on Friday. The peak renewables body’s support, however, is contingent on the policy being fleshed out, “and [it] addressing concerns in relation to the emissions target.”
Fast-falling EPC prices make sub-$60/MWh solar feasible
Analysis from Rystad Energy has revealed that sub-$60/MWh utility scale solar projects could be viable in sunny parts of Australia today. The highly competitive EPC landscape has been identified as the major driver of the improving PV power plant economics although, as always, cost of capital remains key.
ABB supplies 30 MW battery, microgrid to the Pilbara
Swiss electricity infrastructure giant ABB has supplied a large battery storage and microgrid solution to Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The system was installed at Alinta Energy’s 178 MW gas-fired Newman Power Station, which supplies a major iron-ore mine in the mineral-rich region.
