Victoria

Victorian solar company RACV Solar has continued its expansion strategy with the acquisition of Great Ocean Solar and Electrical, a solar and battery installation business based on the Bellarine Peninsula in the state’s southwest.

Australian renewable developer Maoneng has revealed details for its 240 MWp/480 MWh big battery proposed for Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula which has now opened for public exhibition.

There is a big concern in the industry right now for even the top tier solar companies. As the demand for installers and systems is ever increasing, the number of good solar installers are not. 

The small town of Yackandandah in northeast Victoria is one step closer to being powered by 100% renewable energy with the state’s first behind-the-meter, community-owned solar PV and battery energy storage system the latest addition to its community’s energy generation strategy.

The Victorian government has allocated $1.1 million in funding to Indigenous groups to determine how they want to be part of Victoria’s renewable energy boom. Fortescue has likewise awarded $350 million to a majority-owned Aboriginal business in Western Australia, its single largest contract under its Billion Opportunities program.

Lumea is planning the first big battery to be financed without any government support at Melbourne’s Deer Park Energy Hub.

Gannawarra Solar Farm, Victoria’s first large-scale solar farm integrated with a big battery, has forayed into the world of agrisolar by integrating sheep grazing on site. The sheep are reportedly loving the shade offered by the panels, which has allowed them to graze even during the hottest parts of the day, with the animals unperturbed by the solar farm’s tracking devices.

We’ve ticked over into July 2021, and so have left Q2 behind us… now with two units at Callide back in service, and also three units at Yallourn as well (though Yallourn unit four missed its expected return to service on Wednesday 30th June). Let’s hope prices continue to settle down.

Victorian network operator AusNet has revealed the preferred route for a proposed $300 million electricity transmission line which is expected to unlock thousands of megawatts of new solar and wind resources in the state’s western region.

Deakin University has received funding for two multi-million dollar facilities, one devoted to advanced battery research and the second for the development of hydrogen technology. The projects’ aims will be to overcome hydrogen’s hurdles and, for batteries, to improve existing technologies while also investigating sustainable alternatives like sodium batteries.