South Australia

Nothing if not critical, the 900 km renewable energy transporter is inching towards shovel time. This weekend ElectraNet awarded transmission and substation contracts for South Australia’s piece of the electron super highway to Australia’s National Electricity Market.

Transmission network operator Transgrid has secured state government approval for a “critical” $2.28 billion electricity interconnector that will link the New South Wales and South Australian energy networks for the first time.

The Australian Energy Regulator has filed a lawsuit against the Hornsdale Power Reserve, which is owned and operated by French renewable energy developer Neoen, alleging it failed to provide the grid security services it was paid to deliver.

Power and water are a classic utility couple. SA Water has switched up the relationship with another solar plant energised in its massive solar rollout that is set to save on both costs and carbon.

Since July last year, SA Power Networks has been refining the technology and stakeholder engagement mechanisms that will enable dynamic solar exports to the grid, potentially ending an era of severe export limits on new customers in rooftop-solar-rich parts of the South Australian network and in other jurisdictions.

For a small infrastructure investment in rooftop solar systems, state governments can make a material difference to the lives of social housing tenants, and further their net-zero ambitions. Western Australia reports another win-win.

Canadian clean energy company Amp Energy has secured a lease agreement with Indigenous landowners to develop a solar farm and storage system in Whyalla, South Australia. The project is one of three sites which make up the company’s proposed Renewable Energy Hub of South Australia, announced in May.

The latest news in the NEM is AEMO’s goal to be capable of handling periods of 100% instantaneous renewables penetration by 2025. This is a significant challenge and fitting given the pace the NEM is moving to
supporting increasingly higher levels of instantaneous (and increasingly asynchronous) renewables on a regular basis.

The South Australian Greens Party has proposed a tax-and-spend plan for the state that goes against everything the Federal Government advocates, in favour of massive funding of essential services and reducing carbon emissions in the process.

The CSIRO is pushing the limits of flexible solar PV cells, partnering with Australian start-up Space Machines Company to test the technology in space.