Queensland

The Queensland government has approved a new “state-of-the-art” renewable energy skills centre in Brisbane, which will provide training to prospective and current electrical workers to enter clean energy industries.

Households with residential batteries have doubled in Queensland in the last two years, though cost remains a barrier – as it has with electric vehicles. As prices fall, however, the state is likely to welcome the technology with open arms, as it has with solar. 37% of Queensland households now harvest the sun’s energy and a further 22% looking to install or upgrade their systems, according to the government’s Queensland Household Energy Survey. Of those with solar systems, 93% would would replace their panels with the same size or larger, if they were to fail.

Brisbane-based battery casing company Vaulta has more to celebrate than just Brisbane’s winning 2032 Olympic and Paralympic bid. The company has won a Federal government Accelerating Commercialisation grant that will see its innovative design pushed ahead as the tide of electric vehicles rising globally.

More than half of regional Queenslanders believe clean energy industries will be major employers by 2030, according to a new survey, while just shy of half support transitioning to a renewables-dominated grid in the next 15 years or sooner. The survey focussed only on regional Queensland, excluding greater Brisbane area and Gold Coast, an area renowned for conservatism.

The number of residential home batteries in Queensland has doubled while electricity bill cost concern has almost halved, found the “biggest survey of its kind” conducted in the state. The survey’s findings, which set to be released in full later this week, were summarised this morning by Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, at a virtual event.

Hydrogen vehicle maker, Hyzon Motors, has signed an agreement to deliver five fuel cell-powered heavy-duty trucks to Ark Energy Corporation, the Australian subsidiary of the world’s largest zinc, lead, and silver producer, Korea Zinc Ltd.

Adelaide-based module maker Tindo Solar has notched a win for the Australian manufacturing sector, delivering the panels for a $2.4 million solar PV and battery energy storage program rolled out by the Queensland government.

The founders of Queensland-based start-up EVOS are confident Australia’s sluggish uptake of electric vehicles will continue to gather pace as they prepare to commercialise their charging and energy management software platform after securing $1.7 million in seed funding.

Proponents of CopperString 2.0, a proposed 1,100-kilometre high-voltage transmission line set to connect Queensland’s northwest to the National Electricity Market (NEM), have declared the project is expected to be “shovel ready” within three months.

Queensland network operator Powerlink has indicated battery storage will be a critical part of a bespoke strategy designed to solve system strength issues that have emerged as a challenge for renewable energy generation in the National Electricity Market.