Oceania

Speculation will be rife as to the cause of the fire which destroyed one Tesla Megapack and damaged another in Moorabool on Friday. Investigators are waiting until the site is deemed safe to begin their forensic examination.

Mining giant BHP has taken another step on the path towards a renewable energy future, commissioning a 48.2 MW solar-plus-storage hybrid power facility that will help power its Nickel West mining operations in regional Western Australia.

Australian electricity network part-owner Spark Infrastructure said it will welcome other bids if a $5.2 billion (USD$3.85) billion takeover bid by a consortium fails, implying a sale is on the cards.

Professor Thomas Nann told pv magazine Australia that a breakthrough idea was almost too simple: “Actually when we submitted the patent in the first place, the patent officers came back to us and said ‘well, that’s too trivial’ and we made exactly that argument – why did no one else do that then?” said Nann.

With Australia prepping plans for vast green hydrogen and ammonia production facilities, two of the country’s state governments are trying to drum up the end-user market as agreements are signed to drive use of the gas in Ukraine and Poland.

In handing down $2.5 million in fines, Victoria’s Essential Services Commission chair Kate Symon said it was the strongest action taken against an energy company, whose representatives engaged in fraudulent activity.

Known as Australia’s “Sunshine State,” Queensland households have, in just two years, doubled their residential energy storage, according to a new survey. The figures reveal 37% of Queensland households now have panels installed, with a further 22% looking to install or upgrade their systems.

Made up of distributed residential energy storage, these “plants” stabilize the grid and often end the need for new fossil generation. Tesla customers in California are the latest to join the movement.

Australia’s first lithium-ion battery manufacturer, Energy Renaissance, has received a grant to develop its pilot manufacturing facility in the Hunter region.

Western Australian company Australian Vanadium Limited has been awarded $3.69 million in federal government funding to fast-track manufacturing of large-scale vanadium redox flow battery systems that can be used to support rooftop solar PV or in off-grid settings such as mining, agriculture and remote communities.