Oceania

The traditional owners of Yindjibarndi lands in Western Australia have struck a deal with Philippines-based energy giant ACEN Corporation to develop more than 3 GW of wind, solar and battery storage in the state’s Pilbara region.

The consortium partners behind an export-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production facility planned for north Queensland will advance the mega project from concept to feasibility stage after signing a formal heads of agreement.

Solar data and forecasting provider Solcast, a DNV company, has detailed the solar irradiance data it collected for Australia in June, showing that eastern New South Wales received irradiance about 15% above normal for the month, while central and western Victoria received totals 10-20% lower than normal.

The Queensland government has reaffirmed that Singapore-headquartered Keppel Infrastructure has joined the consortium of Australian and Japanese energy companies seeking to develop a 3 GW renewable hydrogen project near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

Japanese oil and gas giant Inpex has struck a deal to buy 50% of Italian utilities giant Enel Group’s Australian renewable energy platform, Enel Green Power Australia, handing it joint control of a solar farms portfolio that includes 254 MW of installed capacity and another 170 MW of renewables under construction.

Last week, Opposition leader Peter Dutton called for Australia to join what he dubbed the “international nuclear energy renaissance.”

The Australian Energy Market Operator has released a report identifying the key engineering and operational activities it plans to undertake in the next 12 months to help prepare the country’s main grid to operate with 100% instantaneous renewables.

Researchers are proposing to use steel zip ties to attach solar modules to fences in animal farms as a low-cost racking solution for agrivoltaic applications. They found the proposed approach is technically and economically viable, provided careful wind load tests are conducted on the fences.

The New South Wales Hunter region, for decades a hub for coal and steel industries, has been tapped to play a major role in Australia’s decarbonised energy future with the federal government announcing it will invest $70 million (USD 47.58 million) to further the development of a green hydrogen manufacturing hub in the region.

A coroner’s report is to be prepared following the death of a 41-year-old man following a “workplace accident” at the Wellington North Solar Farm being constructed near Dubbo in western New South Wales.