Global analytics firm Wood Mackenzie predicts Australia will fall well short of its target of 82% renewable generation by 2030 due to grid connection delays, inadequate investment and moves from some state governments to scale back their clean energy ambitions.| pv magazine Australia
The scope of Zen Energy’s fledgling collaboration with Taiwan’s HD Renewable Energy has expanded with the two parties launching a joint venture that is targeting the development of 400 MW of solar and 1 GW of energy storage capacity in Australia.| pv magazine Australia
With opposition to large-scale renewables transmission projects being expressed in some rural and regional communities, solar’s ability to be coupled with agriculture could present opportunities for collaboration rather than conflict.| pv magazine Australia
United States-based energy storage tech giant Fluence Energy has announced an expansion of its Australian headquarters in Melbourne after locking in a “tailored investment” provided by the Victorian government.| pv magazine Australia
Queensland’s Wide Bay–Burnett region is continuing to build as a renewable energy hotspot with Zen Energy now seeking federal government approval to develop a 100 MW solar farm and a 200 MW battery energy storage system in the area.| pv magazine Australia
Renewables developer Ampyr Australia plans to fast track the development of a 1 GWh battery energy storage system in central New South Wales after buying out former project partner Shell Energy.| pv magazine Australia
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has tapped United States-headquartered energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova to deliver an integrated battery energy storage system solution for the 250 MW / 1,000 MWh second stage of its Supernode project being developed in southeast Queensland.| pv magazine Australia
Genex Power has struck an offtake agreement with Queensland government-owned energy giant Stanwell Corporation that will underpin the development of the 775 MW first stage of the Bulli Creek solar and battery project planned for the state’s southeast.| pv magazine Australia
Construction has commenced on a 300 MW / 1,200 MWh battery energy storage system being built alongside the coal-fired Stanwell Power Station in central Queensland as the state government looks to scale up energy storage capacity to support the transition to renewables.| pv magazine Australia
The Queensland Government is doubling down on its renewable energy strategy, announcing the state’s largest battery is soon to be connected to the grid and unveiling plans to build a large-scale standalone battery alongside the coal-fired Tarong Power Station.| pv magazine Australia
A proposed 400 MW pumped hydro storage project is on track to become the first of its kind to be completed in Queensland in more three decades after industry giant GE Renewable Energy provided its backing for the project.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand’s large-scale solar PV market is poised for a momentous shift with energy company Todd Generation pursuing plans to establish a 400 MW solar farm at Rangitāiki on the North Island.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand’s transition to renewable energy has received a boost with German investment manager Aquila Capital teaming with renewable energy asset developer Far North Solar Farm to announce they will commence construction on a 1GW portfolio of large-scale solar PV projects.| pv magazine Australia
In a big week for solar in the land of the long white cloud, Lightsource bp has announced a 50/50 partnership with New Zealand's Contact Energy to pursue a large-scale solar portfolio in the country, generation which Contact Energy will purchase through a power purchase agreement.| pv magazine Australia
A collaboration of United States and New Zealand developers, Helios Energy received private investment from Google executive Urs Hölzle and is setting its sights on grid-scale solar developments in New Zealand.| pv magazine Australia
Early works have commenced on the largest solar farm to reach financial close in New Zealand with Genesis Energy and renewables partner FRV Australia confirming they have finalised the financing for the 47 MW Lauriston Solar Farm.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand generation company Lodestone Energy has commenced early construction works on the first of five utility-scale solar farms it intends to develop across the nation’s upper North Island at a cost of $285.5 million (USD 191.5 million).| pv magazine Australia
Australia’s vast distances make the supply of electricity via traditional grids expensive and even dangerous. With demand growing for agricultural goods produced with low-carbon emissions, solar and energy storage is being embraced even by skeptical farmers.| pv magazine Australia
The CSIRO has run an internal ‘Shark Tank’-style competition which will see it test semi-transparent, printed solar films at its greenhouses to assess whether the technology can be used to enhance crops’ growth and cut emissions.| pv magazine Australia
University of New South Wales researchers have teamed up with Tindo Solar to develop a line of semi-transparent modules, specialised for agrivoltaic cropping, which will use nanoparticles tuned to capture different parts of the light spectrum. “There is evidence you don’t need the full spectrum and some plants will work even better if you provide them with only part of the spectrum,” project lead and UNSW Associate Professor Ziv Hameiri tells pv magazine Australia. Crucially, he says, t...| pv magazine Australia
American investment giant BlackRock has teamed with the New Zealand government to launch a NZ$2 billion (AUD 1.86 billion) climate infrastructure fund to accelerate the growth of green energy technologies like solar, wind, green hydrogen and battery storage to fuel a low-emissions economy.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand’s large-scale solar market is set to shift up a gear with the government announcing two new projects with a combined generation capacity of more than 500 GWh per annum have been referred for fast-track consenting.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand renewables developer Lodestone Energy’s plans to develop an initial suite of five large-scale solar farms with a combined generation capacity of more than 365 GWh per annum has reached another milestone with construction beginning on the second of the projects.| pv magazine Australia
Residents in the remote Northern Territory community of Marlinja are preparing to power up what is being described as Australia's first 100% First Nations-owned and grid-connected solar microgrid.| pv magazine Australia
Zen Energy’s plan to build a 100 MW solar project and 200 MW battery with up to eight hours of storage capacity in southeast Queensland has been waved through the federal environmental approvals process.| pv magazine Australia
Australian company Solspan has unveiled a vertical solar wall system that it says will enable the dual purposing of agricultural land, helping to address land use concerns associated with the rollout of renewable energy projects.| pv magazine Australia
IEA PVPS Task 16 recently introduced SolarStations.org, a global catalogue of solar irradiance monitoring stations designed for researchers, developers, and policymakers. This openly available resource catalogues more than 800 multi-component stations – of which more than 400 are currently active – offering a comprehensive view of high-quality ground-based solar data.| pv magazine Australia
Ampyr Australia, the local arm of Singapore-based developer Ampyr Energy, has achieved financial close for its 300 MW / 600 MWh Wellington stage one battery energy storage system project being developed in central west New South Wales.| pv magazine Australia
Queensland state-owned generation company Stanwell has boosted its energy storage portfolio with two new developments with a combined capacity of almost 650 MW entering its project pipeline.| pv magazine Australia
British renewable energy firm Harmony Energy’s plan to develop a 147 MW solar farm on the North Island of New Zealand has been fast tracked with the country seeking to accelerate the roll out of renewable energy generation projects as it strives to reach net zero by 2050.| pv magazine Australia
New Zealand renewables developer Lodestone Energy has received planning consent for three new large-scale solar farms on the country’s South Island as it continues the roll out of a PV strategy that it expects will deliver more than 500 GWh in solar generation.| pv magazine Australia
Lodestone Energy has started generating electricity at its solar farm in Kaitaia, New Zealand’s largest solar farm and first utility scale solar installation to date.| pv magazine Australia
Ground-mounted PV is increasingly being investigated not only as a renewable generator, but as shelter for crops and creatures under fire from climate change. Last week’s All Energy conference handed the mike to some pioneers in the field.| pv magazine Australia
With five solar farms already under construction, New Zealand renewables developer Lodestone Energy has teamed with a trio of British-based companies to develop another nine PV projects that are expected to deliver more than 500 GWh in additional solar generation.| pv magazine Australia
Small collections of electricity generators, or microgrids, have long been used in disaster recovery, when network supply falters during bushfires or cyclones. But now the technology is being used to provide secure, 24-7 supplies of clean energy in Australian communities where connection to the main electricity grid is but a pipedream.| pv magazine Australia
