Queensland

Australian battery designer and manufacturer PowerPlus Energy will look to accelerate its growth plans after technology investment company PPK Group announced plans to acquire a large stake in the company.

Rooftop solar households in regional Queensland are set to receive almost 40% more for the PV-generated electricity they send back to the grid after the state’s pricing regulator proposed an increase to the feed-in tariff.

Both the Australian Energy Regulator and Victoria’s Essential Services Commission have pointed to default electricity price rises of more than 30% for residents and small business.

Queensland government-owned renewable energy corporation CleanCo has unveiled plans to transform the former coal-fired Swanbank power precinct in the state’s southeast into a clean energy hub with the potential to generate up to 1.2 GW of clean energy.

Australian resources developer Vecco Group has secured state government backing to build a $26 million (USD 17 million) vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in the north Queensland city of Townsville with production set to be used in grid-scale vanadium flow battery projects.

Hydrogen truck maker Hyzon has launched what is being hailed as Australia’s first locally designed and built hydrogen-powered truck at its regional headquarters in Melbourne. The 27-tonne truck is hitting Australian roads in a series of commercial trials this year, including as part of a longterm partnership with RACV, which has ordered three tow trucks.

Australia’s utility-scale solar sector had its third highest month on record in February, generating 1,463 GWh. New South Wales was the country’s top generator, showing the state’s colossal coal turnaround is well underway.

The Queensland government will acquire the $5 billion (USD 3.37 billion) CopperString transmission line project which is set to unlock 6 GW of renewable energy resources and connect Queensland’s North West Minerals Province to Australia’s national grid. The shovel-ready project, many years in the making, is hailed as the biggest expansion to Australia’s energy grid in decades.

The Queensland government will team with the Smart Energy Council to develop an industry-led solar panel recycling scheme and investigate a ban on the dumping of end-of-life panels as it prepares for a surge in the number of decommissioned PV modules coming off rooftops.

Global solar developer Lightsource bp is reportedly testing buyer interest in five Australian projects, hiring Macquarie Capital to run early-stage market soundings on the deal which could potentially be worth around $1 billion (USD 670 million).