A tracking report from five major international agencies finds the world is lagging behind sustainable development goals for 2030. While more effort is needed to reach some of the world’s poorest populations, though, notable progress has been made in reducing the electrification deficit, thanks to off-grid solar and minigrids.

As India awaits the results of the world’s largest democratic election on Thursday, and the EU begins to go to the polls on the same day, pv magazine Australia considers the “miracle” victory by a right-wing Liberal-National coalition in Australia at the weekend, and finds the nation’s solar sector has little reason to rejoice.

As Australia’s federal election campaign slowly grinds to a halt, one thing is indisputable: Climate change has emerged as the make or break issue in this year’s election. The main parties have come up with a wide range of policies, but some of them are more supportive of the green energy sector than others.

With the annual cost of energy rising per bed across Australia’s aged care sector, C&I PV and energy-efficiency specialist Verdia says that a major energy transformation is taking place throughout the country.

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is seeking public input on the massive Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for the country’s Pilbara region.

The first solar project in the 1 GW dispatchable renewable energy program launched by U.K. steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has received development approval from the government in the state of South Australia.

The German energy storage provider has begun shipping batteries made in the former Holden factory in the north of Adelaide to New Zealand. Sonnen batteries will be available exclusively through the manufacturer’s local partner, Taspac Energy.

Echoing a growing appetite for corporate renewable power purchase agreements in Australia, Ascham School has become the first in New South Wales to ink a long-term deal with commercial electricity retailer Flow Power.

Australia’s federal Labor party has pledged to roll out PV generation and batteries at schools across the nation, and to create VPPs supporting up to 365 MW of capacity.

A total of 238,000 advanced meters will be installed by utility Western Power on the state of Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System over the next three years. The move will unlock the benefits of a technology that gives consumers more control over their energy use. In another rollout, Horizon Power has made paying for power easier for 11 Aboriginal communities across the state.