Queensland

With some of the world’s largest solar PV module manufacturers warning of looming panel shortages, Australian researchers have declared a new generation of cheap, sustainable and efficient solar cells is now a step closer.

Plans for a $400 million green hydrogen and ammonia hub in Bundaberg on Queensland’s coast were partially released on Tuesday, with Clean Holdings’ chief executive Ken Mathews telling pv magazine Australia another major project partner is to be announced shortly. As it stands, the project will use hydrogen technology from the newly minted CAC-H2 to gasify agricultural waste from the region and separate out the hydrogen in a process the company’s energy CEO described to pv magazine Australia as “greener than green”.

Melbourne-based public transport company Kinetic has been awarded a $2.3 billion contract by the Victorian government to replace more than half the city’s fleet with low or zero-emissions vehicles by 2031.

Last year, a day after Halloween, I saw firsthand the result of the most hectic hailstorm I’ve ever endured. Springfield Lakes, Greenbank and a few surrounding Brisbane suburbs got absolutely smoked. It was reported in February that the damage bill had reached at least $805 million. More recent reports have estimated it to be over $1 billion.

Australian renewable energy developer Genex Power has inked a deal with Tesla to develop its 50 MW/100 MWh Bouldercombe Battery Project in Queensland using the United States-based electric vehicle manufacturer’s lithium-ion battery technology.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has confirmed Energy Developments Limited is poised to begin construction of a new solar farm and battery energy storage system that will more than triple the solar PV generation capacity at the Anglo-Australian multinational’s $2.6 billion bauxite mining operation at Weipa in far north Queensland.

Renewables developer Edify Energy has been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production plant of up to 1 GW, as well as a behind-the-meter solar and battery storage facility within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville, northern Queensland. 

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are testing technology which claims to increase the output of hydrogen fuel cells by as much as 60%, put forth by Australian transport technology company, Titan Hydrogen.

Queensland’s ambition to become a leading producer and exporter of green hydrogen has received a boost with state government-owned electricity generator Stanwell teaming with a consortium of Australian and Japanese energy companies to commence a feasibility study for a proposed large-scale production and export project in Gladstone.

The Queensland government today announced it’s given the go-ahead for what will be the state’s first vanadium mine, Multicom Resources’s $250 million Saint Elmo mine. The government also earmarked the North West of the state as potential vanadium hub with other mine plans progressing.