Rystad Energy

With global demand for new energy storage soaring and nations and companies racing to secure battery metals supply chains, a series of major investments in Australia and Australian lithium mining companies is expected to accelerate the nation’s transformation into a critical minerals powerhouse.

Record energy prices, particularly in Europe, are driving demand for renewables and energy storage. That is changing the equation for utility solar and wind investment and shortening project payback times to under a year in some regions. Storage deployment, driven by recent policy developments around the world, is also expected to get a big boost through to 2030.

Indian mining giant Adani’s Rugby Run Solar Farm has been ranked the best performing large-scale PV asset in the country for the month of August as Queensland’s solar farms continued to dominate the latest ratings tables.

Just days after Genex Power rejected a proposed $300 million takeover offer, claiming it undervalues the company, the developer’s 50 MW Kidston Solar Farm has once again been ranked Australia’s best performing large-scale PV asset.

Solar manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has teamed with Adelaide-headquartered solar panel collection and recycling company Reclaim PV Recycling to recover and recycle SunPower branded solar panels in Australia.

Winter has proven no feat for the sunshine state, which is home to basically all of Australia’s best performing PV assets, senior Rystad analyst David Dixon finds.

New South Wales has topped the charts for large-scale renewable energy generation in May but Queensland has dominated the solar stakes with the top six utility PV assets for the month all located in the sunshine state.

The best performing large-scale PV asset in Australia this month was Genex Power’s Kidston solar farm in Queensland, according to Rystad analyst Dave Dixon, who noted total generation from solar and wind assets in Australia grew 23% compared to April 2021.

Rystad Energy has joined BloombergNEF with a significant forecast for grey and blue hydrogen off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the analysts, the impact of the war has sent prices of fossil fuel-tied forms of hydrogen production surging, leaving the gradual but consistent downward price trend of green hydrogen now looking remarkably competitive.

Just hours after Australia’s oldest solar farm was announced as the best performing utility scale solar asset in the country, construction firm Tranex Solar revealed the energisation of one of the nation’s newest clean energy developments is “well underway”.