Oceania

Amid significant environmental concern about the impact of more widespread lithium mining, various methods of extracting the battery material from brine could offer a cleaner solution – and reignite a historic Cornish industry.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Australia experienced extreme and diverse weather throughout July and August, resulting in varied impacts on solar irradiance across the country’s states.

The Australian government’s Energy Update 2024 shows that solar generation grew 21% in the 2022-23 period and is 11 times higher than a decade ago, jumping 3% in each of the past two years.

A research team from Japan and Indonesia used satellite data to investigate fluctuations of solar irradiance over the Asia Pacific region and draw conclusions on which areas are best suited for future installations.

The South Australian Hydrogen Jobs Plan hydrogen power plant has secured development approval for the construction and operation of 250 MW of electrolyzers, a 100-ton storage pipeline, and a 200 MW hydrogen-fueled power plant.

Australia’s Avid Group has signed a master supply agreement with Enervenue, a US-based company that manufactures nickel-hydrogen batteries offering more than 30,000 duty cycles at discharge rates of two to 12 hours.

South African miner Gold Fields has contracted Scottish power company Aggreko to more than double the size of an off-grid hybrid solar and battery microgrid helping to power its Granny Smith mining operation in Western Australia.

Australia’s EnergyConnect project – a 900 km transmission line that will link the energy grids in the states of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales – has hit two major milestones, including progress on the main substation hub.

Australian solar panel manufacturer Tindo Solar has revealed the first link in a domestic downstream supply chain that is to support a planned sixfold increase in its annual output, via a supply arrangement with Capral Aluminium.

Lion Energy has struck a AUD 10 million ($6.8 million) deal with Mitsubishi subsidiary DGA Energy Solutions Australia and Samsung C&T to jointly develop a green hydrogen generation and refueling hub in Brisbane, Australia.