Victoria

Western Australia-based oil and gas company Prominence Energy has become the latest fossil fuel company to enter the hydrogen market by acquiring a 20% stake in Patriot Hydrogen.

Victoria is accelerating plans to carve out a share of the evolving global hydrogen market, calling for Expressions of Interest from parties keen to play a role in the newly launched Greater Geelong Hydrogen Technology Cluster.

A national motoring body has called on the Federal Government to “provide leadership”, declaring the rollout of electric vehicles in Australia is facing significant roadblocks.

Victoria’s state government has introduced new rules for solar businesses and energy retailers banning on door-to-door sales of products and announcing penalties of up to $1 million for retailers that wrongfully disconnect the electricity of vulnerable Victorians.

More than half of the Victoria’s local councils will soon be powered by renewable energy after they signed up to the largest emissions reduction project yet undertaken by local government in Australia.

Transmission is not the only way, proves network service provider Powercor with its new plan to help Victoria hit its ambitious emissions reduction targets, while considering the needs and sensitivities of regions set to host the state’s Renewable Energy Zones.

New South Wales is leading the rooftop solar PV race with homeowners in the state installing more than 100,000 systems in 2020 according to the CSIRO following a detailed analysis of data released by the Clean Energy Regulator.

Record investment in solar and wind farms across the National Electricity Market has helped to quell concerns that Victoria and South Australia will face increased risk of blackouts later this decade following the impending closure of the Yallourn coal-fired power plant.

While suburban Australian rooftops have become coated in solar panels, the roofs of our commercial and industrial buildings have remained conspicuously bare. Our shopping centres, however, seem to be slowly be moving in the direction ordinary Australian’s have paved, with Australia’s largest privately-owned shopping centre yesterday announcing plans for a sizeable microgrid. Likewise, Vicinity, one of the country’s largest shopping centre managers, has managed to increase its sustainability rating largely through its extensive solar program.

A Victorian solar PV company which swindled thousands of customers out of millions of dollars has been fined a massive $3 million while its sole director has been slapped with a $450,000 penalty and disqualified from being a director of any company for five years.