Victoria

The Hepburn Recreation Reserve has been recently fitted out with a solar installation accompanied by a Tesla Powerwall 2. The combined system is not only a great result for the local sports clubs, it also helps Hepburn Shire on its way to 100% renewables, and what is more, also secures the important facility as a ‘last resort’ for the community during a bushfire.

Malmsbury Fire Station in Victoria has been generously donated a Tesla Powerwall 2 battery, a gift that allows the Malmsbury Fire Brigade to remain operational and vigilant despite power outages. 

The Victorian government has boosted its solar rental scheme with interest-free loans in addition to two rebates per financial year landlords were already able to access.

1000 sites into the Sunburnt Country and McDonald’s has had the bright idea of investing in solar. The fast-food giant has begun construction on its 1000th Australian site, a ‘sustainable flagship’ which utilises rooftop solar and other sustainable practices as a possible model for fast-food franchises going forward.

La Trobe University is well on its way to achieving its ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2029 goal thanks to 7,500 solar panels installed by Solgen Energy Group at its Bundoora campus in Melbourne’s north. VIC Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the feat demonstrated what could be achieved with leadership, clear targets, and renewable energy.

It’s crunch time for renewables and McCain Foods is chipping in with what is being called Australia’s largest ‘behind-the-meter’ renewable energy system at its production facility in Ballarat. The 8.2 MW system will feature 17, 000 solar panels and a co-generation technology feeding on scrap potato skins.

A New Safe and Reliable Energy Storage and Conversion Technologies Research Hub is one of five grant recipients of the Australian Research Council’s funding for Industrial Transformation. The Hub will seek to develop new technologies in energy storage to eliminate the risk of fire, as well as addressing the environmental impact of current technologies. 

The Northern Territory’s rollout of solar panel installation at 25 schools is picking up speed, and Victoria is looking to follow suit after announcing the application period open for its Greener Government School Buildings program following the success of a pilot program.

Straddling two state borders, the West Murray region in southeastern Australia has become a microcosm of technical challenges that can plague the energy transition. Faced with serious curtailment of solar farms in this electrically remote region, a remarkable inverter-based technical feat may have changed the game.

The first of six Evie Networks ultra-fast EV charging stations at Caltex/Ampol retail outlets in Victoria and New South Wales is up and charging. The Avernel site is strategically positioned between Melbourne and the VIC-NSW border town of Wodonga.