Oceania

Australian commercial solar outfit CleanPeak Energy continues to build out its utility-scale PV portfolio, announcing it has achieved financial close on the 40 MWp Wangaratta Solar Farm being developed in northern Victoria.

A sharp rise in connection and terminal station charges is stalling storage from coming online, according to an Australian developer. While the price hikes could be attributable to a quagmire of complications the industry currently faces, the developer questioned whether Australia’s TNSP monopoly system is a contributing factor.

Construction has started on Western Australia’s second grid-scale battery in Kwinana as the state government looks to scale up energy storage capacity to support its planned transition from coal-fired power to renewables.

Western Australia’s virtual power plant Project Symphony pilot has been boosted by the commission of a new community battery in the Perth suburb of Harrisdale.

Sofar, a China-based inverter and battery manufacturer, has introduced a new series of microinverters for balcony solar arrays and rooftop PV systems. They have a 97.5% efficiency rating and offer between 500 VA and 2,400 VA of rated power.

Australian miner QEM has shortlisted three non-binding indicative bids to develop, own and operate a proposed 1 GW of wind and solar energy to power its planned vanadium mining and oil shale project near Julia Creek in northwest Queensland.

Australian renewable energy startup Green Gravity has teamed with underground mining contractor RUC to accelerate the commercialisation of its gravitational energy storage technology which rests on moving weighted objects through disused mine shafts.

Australian developer ACEnergy is building an initial portfolio of 10 neighbourhood batteries totalling 50 MW/100 MWh across Victoria and New South Wales. The company is also engaging networks to lobby for reforms to the connection process and tariff structure in light of grid support the technology can offer.

Australian renewable energy developer Genex Power has entered into agreements with Japanese electric utility J-Power to receive a multi-million-dollar funding package that will support the delivery of its 2 GWh pumped hydro project in northern Queensland and the development of the 2 GW Bulli Creek solar and battery project in the state’s southeast.

French oil and gas supermajor TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Gentari Renewables, the clean energy arm of Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas, to jointly develop a 100 MW solar farm in southwest Queensland.