Rystad Energy

Australia’s single axis tracker market has been deemed “highly concentrated” with just two companies, Nextracker and Array Technologies, commanding 77% of the market, the equivalent of 5.8 GW AC, according to analysis from Rystad Energy RenewableCube.

Solar rules in any scenario of what the world needs to work towards over the coming three decades, to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees. But analysts at Rystad Energy have arrived at a far greater tally than recent IEA projections of how much PV people will be plugging into.

Minh K Le, senior renewables analyst at Rystad Energy, examines five key trends to watch in Southeast Asia utility-scale solar, as mega-scale projects ramp up, Indonesia emerges, and Vietnam steps back.

Australia’s solar and wind generation surged in March, according to Rystad Energy’s latest Watts Generating report, and perhaps most importantly a new wave of solar PV — primarily in energy-hungry NSW — is in the commissioning phase to come fully online in coming months.

November is still in its infancy but Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) is on track to record its third consecutive month of achieving more than 30% renewable energy.

Could a single installation define a brief but explosive period of ambitious PV deployment? The massive 500 MW Dau Tieng solar array – among Southeast Asia’s largest PV installations – makes a strong case for being the most impressive project of Vietnam’s recent solar boom. But the allure of Dau Tieng is about much more than size – it’s about what’s beneath the PV modules.

In a week dominated by the Morrison Government’s announcement of its gas-led strategy for economic recovery, it also committed $250 million to critical transmission infrastructure projects. At the same time TransGrid announced 6,900 MW of renewable investment interest in its New England Transmission Infrastructure project.

The Morrison Government has announced its plans for a gas-led recovery including an ultimatum to the private sector that if it doesn’t prop up the gas sector the Government itself would step in to build a new gas-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley and an expanded Australia Gas Hub in QLD. For many experts the announcement reads more like a suicide note than a recovery strategy.

New analysis from Rystad Energy and Cornwall Insights Australia demonstrate how the return of spring has once again emphasised the growing supremacy of wind and solar in Australia’s energy makeup. The stats don’t lie, wind and solar are sweeping coal and gas out the door.

The UK developer has completed the sale of the 162MWac (203MWdc) Columboola Solar Farm in Queensland’s Western Downs, having recently signed a power purchase agreement with state government-owned utility CS Energy.