South Australia

South Australia’s electricity distributor SA Power Networks has announced plans to introduce new ‘flexible’ export limits for rooftop solar PV in some areas of the state in a bid to manage the growing amount of distributed energy resources and associated network congestion.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has again rejected requests from transmission network operators TransGrid and ElectraNet to allow for a change of rules governing financing arrangements for large-scale transmission projects considered critical for Australia’s shift to 100% renewables.

Green energy fund CEP.Energy has unveiled plans to construct Australia’s largest rooftop solar farm and a new grid-scale battery on the outskirts of Adelaide as part of its ambition to build 1.5 GW of solar and 2 GW of big battery capacity around Australia.

AGL’s nose pushes in front in the race that stores the nation with the announcement that construction on its 250 MW one-hour-duration battery at the site of its Torrens Island power station in South Australia is now underway. The announcement follows directly on from AGL having lodged a planning application for a 200 MW battery at its Loy Yang power station in Victoria.

Renewable energy developer MPower has reaffirmed its affinity for smaller utility-scale solar PV projects by successfully connecting two 5 MWac solar farms to the National Electricity Market (NEM) in South Australia in recent days.

South Australian Labor has unveiled plans for a $590 million renewable hydrogen initiative, including 250 MWe of hydrogen electrolyser facilities as part of its campaign to win power at the March 2022 state election.

Over 2,000 MW – or around 55% – of South Australia’s firm supply capacity was unavailable on March 12, 2021, along with virtually all of its large-scale renewable supply (a further 1,800 MW or so) but the lights stayed on – just.

With ambitious plans to establish a 2 GW renewable energy portfolio in Australia, solar PV module supplier and project developer Risen Energy has signed a deal with Green Gold Energy (GGE) to jointly develop and construct a string of solar projects totalling 80 MW.

The search for power system security has sparked an Australian first with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) confirming South Australian energy authorities switched off 67 MW of rooftop and large-scale solar PV at the weekend when electricity demand plunged to a near-record low.

Juwi Renewable Energy, the Brisbane-based subsidiary of German company juwi, will construct a solar and diesel hybrid solution for Iluka’s South Australian Jacinth-Ambrosia mine, where zircon – used in ceramics – is the primary output.