Australia

The question of where to put new solar projects in Australia is becoming troublesome, as many of the top-choice land parcels for renewables development have been taken. However, RELA Australia says it has a novel solution that levels the playing field between landowners and developers.

Altech Batteries, a battery tech company in Western Australia, has included “game-changing” sodium chloride technology in its new battery 1 MWh GridPack. It said it expects the new systems to be up to 40% cheaper to produce than dominant lithium-ion alternatives.

Australian battery manufacturer Redflow has signed a deal that will see it supply its “non-lithium” energy storage technology to clean energy outfit Ameresco which is looking to develop integrated solar and zinc-bromine flow battery solutions for its customer base throughout North America and Europe.

Skylab, a solar tracking distributor and renewable energy project developer, has unveiled ambitious plans to build about 1 GW of solar and battery energy storage facility in the Australian state of Queensland.

Synergy, a utility owned by the Western Australian government, has revealed plans to build a new 200 MW/800 MWh battery energy storage system in the city of Kwinana, in order to support the state’s main grid and enable the uptake of more renewables.

Australia’s rooftop solar capacity will overtake coal-fired capacity to become the country’s largest power generator in April, when a New South Wales coal plant is set to shut down, says solar consultancy SunWiz.

The Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP) has released a free, online estimation tool to aid Australian businesses in sizing heat pumps to replace gas boilers. The tool estimates the capex, opex, net savings, and payback time based on inputs about heating, cooling, location, and temperature requirements.

Vast Solar will move forward with plans to deliver Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) plant after securing financial backing from the federal government to build a 30 MW/288 MWh facility in South Australia.

Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, speaks to pv magazine about the crisis threatening Adani Group with collapse, the “positive outlook” for Australian renewables, and the nation’s potential to become a clean energy superpower.

US solar tracker supplier Array Technologies plans to set up a factory in Australia, after winning a contract to supply trackers for a 102 MW solar farm in the Australian state of Victoria.