Queensland

Both Victoria’s and Queensland’s state governments are moving on their renewable energy zones (REZs) with tight deadlines looming for hopeful projects in Victoria, while further north the government is eager to hear from local communities.

Renewable energy developer Elliott Green Power is pushing ahead with expansion plans while continuing to seek a buyer for its Australian solar PV assets, announcing it has received approval to develop a utility scale battery alongside the 75 MW Susan River Solar Farm in regional Queensland.

Patrick Matweew, CEO of Australian startup Luceo Energy, is fully aware grid digitalisation stirs fervour in the hearts of few. It is, nonetheless, perhaps the single most important step in realising our clean energy future. “It’s not spoken about enough because it sits in that little niche. There might be other things that are a little bit more sexy, but this is really where the fundamentals get put in place to enable [everything else],” he told pv magazine Australia. 


I had quite the epiphany in the winter of 2020. I began to realise that selling cheap solar systems isn’t actually a smart thing to do in the long run. I’d heard all the rumours from old heads of the industry, but went in a bit wet behind the ears with the old ‘it couldn’t happen to me’ mentality. But replacing solar panels that were only four years old made me wise-up very quickly.

The Queensland government released its Climate Action Plan 2030 online yesterday, an apparent roadmap for the Sunshine State to meet its renewable 2030 and 2050 targets while creating jobs and helping the economy recover from the impact of Covid-19. But is the Action Plan merely a plan to take action?

Acciona Energía has received approval from the Queensland state government for an expansion of its plans for the Aldoga Solar Farm outside Gladstone. Originally slated as a 250 MW project, the project will now reach a capacity of 600 MWp and work to support the development of Gladstone’s green hydrogen hub.

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.