Wind Power

The unique solar, wind, and battery project has been completed at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine, marking Australia’s largest hybrid microgrid of its kind.

Researchers have studied the potential of using compressed air to store renewable energy in offshore saline aquifers. The technology could hold 77-96 TWh for up to two months in British waters, although the costs have proven hard to pin down.

Solar and wind are expected to account for a growing share of the electricity mix in the years ahead, rising from around 3% at present to 23% by 2030. Over the following two decades after that, however, this share will likely remain unchanged, as the national regulator expects the country to deploy more coal-fired generation capacity.

Dutch power company Liander has installed two large transformers at a distribution station in Ulft, in the province of Gelderland. The devices should provide more room for renewables on the network from next year.

The ceiling price for solar and wind power has been set at €84.98/MWh. It is expected around 30 MW of generation capacity will be allocated and solar projects ranging in size from 100 kW to 2 MW will be entitled to participate.

The oil giant says it will use the electricity provided by two 50 MW batteries to optimize the integration of renewables nearby. The task will be undertaken by the group’s Limejump unit. The energy storage units are set to be operational this year.

Differing finance costs across the continent are likely to see wind-rich, high electricity demand nations such as Germany, France, Austria and Belgium forge ahead with renewables at the expense of countries with plenty of sun but where borrowing is expensive, according to a German study.

An international research team is proposing a fuzzy logic approach for optimal site selection of large-scale wind, solar and hybrid wind-solar power projects. The new methodology is based on criterial components for energy optimization through climatological, topographic and human factors.

Only one 5 MW solar project was selected in the 500 MW auction, while wind project developers secured the remaining 495 MW. Final price for the selected solar park was €60/MWh.

The share of renewables in the global energy mix must more than double by 2030 for the world to advance the energy transition and achieve sustainable development goals, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Renewable electricity should supply 57% of global power by the end of the decade, up from 26% today.