Fortescue Future Industries and Woodside have been selected as the two finalists in the race to develop what could be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects – a 600 MW facility in New Zealand.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has suspended the electricity wholesale spot market in all five of the participating National Electricity Market states, as it claims it has become “impossible” to operate.

Green Gravity, a startup proposing to use old mine shafts for gravitational energy storage, has secured AUD 1.4 million ($990,000) in its first formal capital raise.

Reclaim PV Recycling and the Circular PV Alliance (CPVA) have have agreed to jointly develop standards and testing procedures to support the reuse and resale of solar panels in Australia. Reclaim PV recently discovered that more than 31% of the solar panels collected in the Australian state of Queensland could be considered for reuse, rather than recycling.

The top-performing solar farm in Australia in April was Genex Power’s Kidston project in Queensland, according to Rystad Energy Analyst Dave Dixon, who noted that total generation from solar and wind assets in Australia grew by 23% year on year.

Australian solar companies are reporting staff shortages, leading to false price points around the value of installers. Scott Mason, general manager of Platinum Solar Designs, says the shortages aren’t simply part of the nation’s broader skills scarcity; rather, they are endemic to the PV industry and are linked to regulatory issues.

Global solar supply chain issues and the Chinese energy crisis, which hit in the second half of last year, have ironically led to a “massive” oversupply of solar panels in Australia, according to major distributors. The tension between higher global panel costs and the glut of them within Australia has led to some messy pricing and strange market dynamics on the ground.

The number of solar installers in Australia offering storage solutions grew considerably in 2021 and promises to surge again this year, according to a survey by EUPD Research.

The town of Walpole on Western Australia’s southernmost tip will soon be powered by a pumped-hydro microgrid, a first for the state which is already renowned for its rollout of microgrids and distributed renewable solutions.

Commercially printed solar cell technology developed by the University of Newcastle is being put to the test to power an electric vehicle’s 15,097-kilometre journey around the entire coastline of Australia.