Victoria

Pacific Partnerships has announced financial close on the Glenrowan Solar Farm, a 102 MW PV project being developed in northeast Victoria. The solar farm is the first project supported by the second Victorian Renewable Energy Target Auction to begin construction.

Global solar developer Lightsource bp is reportedly testing buyer interest in five Australian projects, hiring Macquarie Capital to run early-stage market soundings on the deal which could potentially be worth around $1 billion (USD 670 million).

The solar ambitions of residents in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit are now underpinned by a neighbourhood battery. Victorian network service provider Powercor connected the 120 kW/360 kWh energy storage system to its network to make the most of the strong rooftop PV penetration in the area.

Victoria will offer private landowners $200,000 (USD 134,400) for every kilometre of land over which they allow transmission lines to be installed as the state government looks to accelerate the development of new transmission infrastructure deemed critical to the future security of the energy grid.

Chinese manufacturing major Trina Solar says it has received connection approval for its first utility scale PV project moving to construction in Australia, kick starting a five-year strategy that is expected to deliver more than 6.5 GW of large-scale renewable projects across the country.

EnergyAustralia’s growing appetite for grid-scale energy storage shows no signs of abating with the gen-tailer announcing it has received approval to construct a 350 MW four-hour battery in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley where its Yallourn coal mine and power station are set to close in 2028.

The Victorian government has provided its seal of approval to accelerate the development of a new high-capacity transmission line that will facilitate the increased flow of electricity between the Victorian and New South Wales grids, helping to maintain power supply reliability as coal-fired generation declines and retires.

Energy Australia has been convicted and fined a total of $1.5 million (USD 1.04 million) following the tragic death of a worker at the Yallourn power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

United States-based solar tracker provider Array Technologies is planning to set up manufacturing operations in Australia after being awarded a contract to supply trackers for a 102 MW solar farm being developed in Victoria’s northeast.

A Victorian-based startup which claims to have developed a hydrogen enhancement kit that injects hydrogen into existing diesel engines to reduce diesel use, has begun the production of 10 commercial-ready systems. It will do field testing with the systems on sites of potential customers.