Queensland

Vena Australia has reached financial close on its 100 MW and 150 MWh Wandoan South Big Battery thanks to ING Australia. The international bank is increasingly financing green energy projects but this is the first standalone battery project it has financed in the Asia Pacific. Vena Energy Australia says this phase is just the beginning of a project that is to feature 650 MW of solar PV and 450 MW of battery storage.

Hydrogen demand in South Korea is expected to reach 17 million tonnes by 2050. An ambitious solar PV project in the heart of Queensland’s unconventional-gas country, plans to be an early green supplier of the manufacturing nation’s hydrogen needs.

Renewable energy investors have shattered the Queensland Government’s expectations with the state’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) attracting more than $90 billion in project proposals.

Australian engineering firm UGL ends the week on a high having landed a series of renewable energy sector contracts with a combined value of more than $112 million.

Spanish solar companies are passing business to each other in Australia like a football between Xavi and Iniesta. X-Elio has announced fellow Spanish company GRS as the EPC for its big entry into the Australian market, the 200 MW Blue Grass Solar Farm in Queensland’s Western Downs.

The Queensland Government will invest $500 million in the development of publicly owned solar and wind farms over the next four years but the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) has warned the state “risks being left behind” the rest of Australia in its transition to renewable energy.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed changes to the rules governing how electricity generators connect to the grid in a bid to help pave the way for the introduction of renewable energy zones (REZs).

Neoen announced last month that it had completed the financing of its 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub, but today it has been revealed that said green finance came about through a wide reaching international effort, including seven global banks, a salutary sign that green finance is accelerating as fossil fuel divestment continues.

Community group Solar Citizens is calling for the Queensland government to expand its solar for renters trial following the release of results which found participating tenants were, on average, $600 a year better off after solar was installed on their rooftops.

For a company that has its own big sunny solar farm and is developing a companion green-hydrogen production plant, the next step must be to formalise its commitment to go 100% renewable.