Policy

Financial newspaper Globes has reported the tender, launched only three weeks ago, is being opposed by the country’s Land Authority, which claims the project could interfere with sand-mining near Dimona.

The debt-saddled PV project developer appears to again be piling up credit lines as it awaits the outcome next week of its latest, $231 million Chinese state-backed bail-out.

With fire-extinguishing rain on the east coast, coronavirus flagged an urgent threat and PM Scott Morrison drumming up support for technology and free-market forces to beat climate change, it all made for a weekend to shake the resolve of some Australians to act on their carbon emissions. Understanding the psychology of how we perceive risk and commit to action can help us focus and keep fighting the fight.

The government has announced 17 MW of utility scale solar is under construction and the Ministry of Energy is seeking consultants to help promote mini-grids and solar net metering.

Batteries, and the raw materials that make them, are a frequent target of public criticism. The high water consumption required for lithium extraction is speeding up desertification around the salt lakes of Latin America’s “lithium triangle”, for example. The mining debate highlights general problems with the extraction of raw materials including copper, crude oil and lithium but international companies can still influence extraction methods – and there are plenty of different approaches.

Renewables generated more electricity than coal in the EU for the first time ever in 2019, driving the sharpest reduction in the European power sector’s carbon emissions in three decades, according to a new report.

Energy regulator the RAE has said the country will host its second joint PV and wind capacity auction on April 2.

Electricity generated by the facility will be sold at $0.08/kWh to national utility Sonabel. Burkina Faso recently adopted a solar-oriented energy policy.

The postal operator, which is present in 12,000 locations nationwide, wants PV facilities to power its operations. Bidders have until February 20 to deliver on a call for expressions of interest and pre-qualify for the tender.

The project will operate at a profit in part thanks to an emissions scheme introduced by the province of Alberta on January 1. The plant will be able to sell its carbon certificates.