Fotowatio secures financing for 90 MW solar plant in grid-challenged southeastern Australia
Sustainable intentions come together in the signing of a green loan to fund ongoing development of FRV’s Sebastopol Solar Farm, which lender ING says contributes towards its ‘ambition to align our lending portfolio with the Paris Agreement goals.’
New trial could nix rooftop solar export tribulations in South Australia
As some parts of Australia’s distribution networks threaten to black out under the flow of rooftop solar exports, ARENA announces funding for a trial that will enable flexible exports in line with what the networks can bear. Smart software is the answer.
Grid constraints threaten to curtail more than 1 GW of solar projects in North Queensland
The northern Australian region this week added nine solar plants to the two already threatened – along with a wind farm – with having their output halted under certain conditions.
Australia’s AEMC rejects new rule for calculating transmission losses
The Australian network regulator has ignored pleas from some of the biggest solar and wind project owners in Australia to change the way marginal loss factors (MLFs) are calculated. While it has acknowledged that transmission has failed to keep pace with renewable energy investment, it did not offer any suggestions on what should be done to ameliorate the problem.
Australian state frees itself from federal shackles to unlock more grid capacity
The government of Victoria has decided to break from national electricity rules and introduce legislation to fast-track priority projects such as grid scale batteries and transmission upgrades, and make room for more large scale solar and wind. The announced reforms have prompted a flurry of reaction.
Where there’s smoke… there’s reduced PV output
A minor concern it may be, compared to the tragic loss of life, livelihoods and biodiversity caused by the bushfires still ravaging parts of Australia, but reduced output by PV systems due to smoke haze is an unwelcome bi-product of blazes that have burned at a scale and ferocity never seen before.
National program to drive virtual power plant participation in Australia
The scheme will test the potential of distributed energy resources such as rooftop systems, battery storage and controllable load devices aggregated into VPPs to provide scalable energy and network services traditionally performed by large scale, conventional electricity generators. With registration open, the Australian Energy Market Operator wants VPPs to register to accelerate shared learning.
