Oceania

The pipeline of pumped hydro storage projects in the Australian state of Queensland continues to grow, with Victoria-based renewables company BE Power announcing plans to develop an 800 MW/9.6 GWh project at Mount Alma near Gladstone.

The result is the best efficiency ever recorded for a carbon-based PV cell using unconventional hole transporting materials to date. The device was built with a hole transparent layer based on electrochemically produced large-area phosphorene flakes, which reportedly enable the required band energy alignment within the cell.

After a six-year delay, the 60 MW Kennedy Energy Park in Australia – hailed as the nation’s first fully integrated, utility-scale solar, wind, and battery project – has finally achieved full commercial operations.

Researchers in Australia have developed a new class of solid electrolytes for rechargeable aqueous zinc-iodine batteries, which has allowed for extended lifespan and high-efficiency. Symmetric cells employing this electrolyte have demonstrated excellent cycle performance, maintaining stability for approximately 5,000 hours at room temperature, while all-solid-state ZnI2 batteries exhibit over 7,000 cycles with a capacity retention exceeding 72.2%

A research team in Australia has used a lamination technique known as cold isostatic pressing (CIP) to build a perovksite solar cell based on a flexible bilayer electrode made of carbon and silver that can reportedly compete with gold-carbon eletrode based counterparts in terms of efficiency and stability.

Australian miner Liontown Resources has flicked the switch on one of the largest off-grid renewable energy hybrid power stations in Australia.

Enosi Energy has signed a first-of-its-kind initiative with real estate investment business EG Funds by using a matched energy supply agreement to bulk up renewable energy used by commercial properties in Sydney, Australia.

Natural hydrogen explorer Gold Hydrogen says it has uncovered 95.8% pure hydrogen at its Ramsay Project on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula as it seeks to tap into growing demand for the gas as a clean energy source.

Evolution Mining is moving forward on a AUD 7 billion ($4.64 billion) plan to build a 2 GW/20 GWh pumped hydro electricity generation facility in the pit of a 20-year-old gold mine in Australia.

Squadron Energy has filed documents with the state government of New South Wales, Australia, in a forward step on its proposed 2 GW Koorakee Energy Park, which will include a 1 GW solar farm and 1 GW of wind energy, backed by a 1 GW/12 GWh battery energy storage system.