South Australia Premier promises interest-free loans for solar+storage
In yet another renewable energy related election commitment, South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill has pledged to offer loans to 10,000 households to install rooftop solar and battery storage, which will be made available interest-free for the first seven years.
Sonnen to establish battery factory in South Australia
German battery and solar energy company sonnen will move its Australian headquarters from Sydney to Adelaide where it will also establish a manufacturing hub.
Equis Energy signs 22 year PPA for 127 MW Tailem Bend
South Australia’s Tailem Bend Solar Project has reached financial close, having signed a PPA for 100% of its output with Snowy Hydro. Construction on the project, located 100km south-east of Adelaide, will begin in February 2018.
South Australia to host another big battery near Snowtown
With all eyes still on the world’s largest lithium-ion battery at the Hornsdale wind farm, South Australia now readies to raise the game with its first big battery built in conjunction with a solar farm.
Neoen Australia urges caution over Hornsdale battery profitability
While the Hornsdale Power Reserve “is doing its job” and is performing as expected, owner Neoen has urged market observers not jump to conclusions as to its profitability based on its arbitrage trading over the short term.
Five questions for SA’s virtual power plant
The proposed 50,000 home virtual power plant launched by the South Australian state government, in partnership with Tesla, is a big deal. But it does beg a number of questions as to how it will be realized and what the implications of the project could be.
South Australia, Tesla partner for $800 million virtual power plant
South Australia could play host to the world’s largest deployment of residential solar+storage in the form of a virtual power plant. The scheme, announced by SA Premier Jay Weatherill on the election campaign trail, could see 250 MW of rooftop PV and 650 MWh of battery storage added to 50,000 homes over 4.5 years.
Coal smoke stacks fall as solar blooms in SA
Last week, the chimney from one of the last coal fired power plants in South Australia was felled. The demolition, captured in the footage below, came only days after Jay Weatherill attended the opening of the state’s first utility scale solar array in the region.
A month in, Tesla’s SA battery is surpassing expectations
It’s just over one month since the Hornsdale power reserve was officially opened in South Australia. The excitement surrounding the project has generated acres of media interest, both locally and abroad.
More big batteries on the way in 2018
Large-scale storage began to gain a lot of attention in 2017, particularly after Elon Musk’s famed ‘100 days’ tweet back in March. Now that this project has proved an initial success, it looks like more big batteries are on the way for the National Electricity Market (NEM).
