Monthly News Roundup - April 2023

30 April 2023

• Key role of solar thermal power in decarbonising Australia
• Shell adds 400 MWh Rangebank battery to expanding energy storage portfolio

Monthly News Roundup - March 2023

31 March 2023

• MPower teams with Ampyr to accelerate mid-scale solar strategy
• New England Solar project: Largest solar farm in NSW opens
• NSW commits $1.5 billion in concessions for green hydrogen projects
• NSW paves way for 17 GW of renewables with declaration of final REZ

Monthly News Roundup - February 2023

28 February 2023

• Renewable energy generation hits record levels in Australia
• Investment in Australian large-scale renewables jumped 50% in 2022
• Council turns to solar and storage to cut energy costs

Monthly News Roundup - January 2023

31 January 2023

• Shell acquires ‘mature’ 500 MW / 1000 MWh battery in former NSW coal power station
• NSW targets circular economy to create new clean energy value
• Australia’s biggest wind turbine erected at what will be largest wind farm in NSW

Monthly News Roundup - December 2022

31 December 2022

• 162 MW Queensland solar farm begins commercial operations
• Independent tool providing answers to complexities of home solar, storage launched
• Research team takes on lithium-ion tech with sodium-sulphur battery
• Works begin on WA’s first pumped hydro solution

Monthly News Roundup - November 2022

30 November 2022

• Proposed 330 MW Victorian solar farm opts for 500 MWh Swiss battery
• Flow Power enters Queensland market with Clermont Solar Farm PPA
• Australian-first green hydrogen microgrid powers up in WA
• NSW seeks proposals for renewables rollout across 2,200 public schools

Monthly News Roundup - October 2022

31 October 2022

• Queensland to leverage position as public customer to ignite renewables manufacturing sector
• Victoria green lights six solar farms and four big batteries
• Victorian university opens ‘advanced’ battery hub for testing and manufacture

Monthly News Roundup - September 2022

30 September 2022

• State’s first ‘big battery’ project enters construction phase in Australia’s Northern Territory
• UNSW engineers build high-speed motor to boost EV range
• Shift in energy system helps Victoria smash emissions targets

Monthly News Roundup - May 2022

31 May 2022

• WA town to be powered by pumped-hydro microgrid
• Massive big battery and solar farm proposed for NSW coal country
• Fortescue urges joint “Green Pilbara” vision of giga-scale wind, solar and hydrogen
• Deakin secures $50 million funding for clean energy hub

Monthly News Roundup - April 2022

30 April 2022

• 2.8GW green hydrogen project in the NT gains key approvals, expands solar potential by a third
• Octopus Australia and CEFC partner again with colocated solar and storage project in NSW
• New program to deliver renewable energy to Indigenous communities
• Queensland company promises to turn noxious weeds into ‘green coal’
• $140 million bipartisan support for WA hydrogen projects

Monthly News Roundup - March 2022

31 March 2022

• Genex reaches financial close on 100MWh Bouldercombe battery project
• Australian mining billionaire to invest $2.2 bln in renewable energy project
• Australia funding renewable-hydrogen-battery microgrid in Queensland rainforest community
• Floating solar, locally made batteries, share in grants for Latrobe Valley ventures
• Solar project for Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
• Sydney port to provide 100% renewable power to docked ships
• Australia grants $22.8m for next-gen hydrogen service station

Monthly News Roundup - February 2022

28 February 2022

• MCC and EnergyAustralia join forces to turn the ‘G green
• Stunning solar milestone as Australia passes 25GW mark
• First poles erected in $2.4bn transmission link to create “renewables superpower”
• NSW flooded with $100bn in renewable and storage projects for Hunter renewable zone
• Construction begins on mining giant BHP’s first off-grid solar-storage project
• Major renewable energy project at Mornington Peninsula a step closer
• NSW tips $5m into Australian hydrogen storage tech to accelerate commercialisation
• One of Australia’s biggest solar farms opens at Melbourne Airport
• International partnership pushes Western Australian vanadium electrolyte plant toward reality
• Hexagon teams up with FRV to add solar to hydrogen and ammonia hubs

Monthly News Roundup - January 2022

31 January 2022

• Pacific Energy unveils ‘world first’ hybrid power solution at mine site
• The long road ahead to EV-grid integration
• Smart inverters to boost solar power generation
• UGL secures $296 million in renewables and utilities contracts
• Sun Metals taps gravity energy storage tech in shift to “green zinc”
• Getting real about the hydrogen economy
• Rystad: Residential solar soars past C&I in 2021

Monthly News Roundup - December 2021

31 December 2021

• Community solar farm becomes first grid scale PV project on Endeavour network
• NSW gives $3 billion hydrogen strategy the green light

Monthly News Roundup - November 2021

30 November 2021

• Gas industry proposes big solar to halve LNG emissions, with support of Sun Cable
• NSW first as Western Sydney green hydrogen plant starts up
• NSW, ACT and South Australia in cross party push to speed transition to net zero
• “Transformational:” Australia passes 3 million-mark for rooftop solar systems
• APA to build 88 MW solar farm in central Queensland
• Rooftop solar installations increase 40% from 2020
• Australia’s oldest open cut coal mine to be transformed into major renewables hub
• Plastic for solar panels?

Monthly News Roundup - September 2021

30 September 2021

• NSW is about to overtake the Sunshine State on large scale solar production
• UNSW study: channelling rooftop PV into water heating is a residential super saver
• Solar carpark now powering Wollongong’s council

Monthly News Roundup - August 2021

31 August 2021

• Clean energy interest soars in NSW as states resist rules to prop up coal
• Study finds green roofs make solar panels more efficient
• NSW’s largest electricity user plans to go green, abandoning AGL’s coal
• Two new solar farms commissioned in NSW Riverina
• NSW eyes treated wastewater as key source for green hydrogen

Monthly News Roundup - July 2021

31 July 2021

• Wollongong Uni to host renewable energy focused training centre
• 600 MW solar+battery project gets NSW government go-ahead
• NSW offers grants to secure 3GW of pumped hydro to replace coal

Monthly News Roundup - June 2021

30 June 2021

• NSW waives stamp duty on EVs and spends $171m on chargers throughout the state
• NSW launches $50m grant program for pumped hydro projects
• Registrations of interest open for Australia’s biggest REZ
• Yurika launches seamless Internet of Things platform
• Microgrid research project aims to help farmers and the network

Monthly News Roundup - May 2021

31 May 2021

• Solar saves NSW City Council $46,000, prompts plans for a third system quadruple the size
• Shell and Edify in landmark big battery storage deal in NSW
• Hydrogen Valley: Plan unveiled to turn Hunter into a renewables hydrogen hub
• Lightsource bp to create 600MW solar hub that will be one of biggest on grid
• NSW takes lead on rooftop solar as CSIRO maps record 2020 data
• Australian hydrogen expert launches advisory firm to accelerate hydrogen economy
• First green hydrogen + gas plant to be built in NSW, ‘kick starting’ hydrogen industry to coincide with loss of major dispatchable asset
• Energy Next: inaugural clean energy sector industry event
• Tweed Shire Council revs up solar installations

Monthly News Roundup - April 2021

30 April 2021

• UNSW’s Prof Martin Green ups PV yield by cooling solar modules
• Second community battery unveiled in NSW trial
• Australian aerospace firm to launch into space race with green hydrogen
• NSW renewables co-op offers shares in Orange solar and battery park
• NSW coal region councils join forces for huge renewable energy mandate
• Retail property major makes solar PV move
• $1.3B initiative backs recycling and clean energy
• Sydney factory to share excess rooftop solar power with employees
• Neoen’s ambitious $636m solar and battery project in NSW gets planning green light

Monthly News Roundup - March 2021

31 March 2021

• NSW puts $750 million on the table to help clean up big emitters 
• Neoen adds huge Thunderbolt project to massive wind and solar pipeline in New England
• Hunter hydrogen hub to drive jobs, investment and a net zero future
• NSW to go it alone on vehicle emissions standards to avoid becoming 'dumping ground' 
• Australia’s biggest coal state could reach 100 pct renewables by 2030
• Small-scale solar becomes second biggest player in Australia’s renewable energy mix, as CEC reveals slate of overhauled records 

Monthly News Roundup - January 2021

29 January 2021

• Neoen plans massive 500MW big battery west of Sydney
• Largest battery in Australia to be built at ageing NSW coal-fired power plant
• Real Energy signs JV to develop large-scale hydrogen hubs
• Chemical researchers develop "green" ammonia
• NSW coal country gets a big grid-balancing battery
• Finance secured Metz Solar Farm in New South Wales
• VivoPower completes 39MW Molong Solar Farm in New South Wales

Monthly News Roundup - December 2020

8 January 2021

• Queensland renewable energy zones “flooded” with 60,000MW of project proposals
• NSW to fast-track network approvals for first renewable energy zone
• Tasmania is now powered entirely by renewable energy
• Singapore investor injects $3 million into 500 MW Queensland PV project
• ARENA backs vanadium flow battery project in outback SA
• South Australia set sights on stunning new target of 500 pct renewables

Monthly News Roundup - November 2020

30 November 2020

• NSW and WA post record rooftop solar installations
• Officeworks pledges to go 100 per cent renewable by 2025
• Australia hits 50pct renewables again, despite shut down of seven solar farms
•  NSW government unveils $32 billion investment plan for new electricity infrastructure
• Woolworths pledges to source 100 per cent renewables by 2025
• Production for new wind and solar farms have begun production

Monthly News Roundup - October 2020

30 October 2020

• Blacktown City Council Solar Panel Installation Complete
• World’s biggest power producer buys $750 million wind project in NSW
• NSW to get a new big battery as renewable power surges
• University wins $2.5m in federal funding for solar energy research
• Cannon-Brookes backs UNSW solar cell start-up, founded in a Maroubra garage
• $1 billion pumped hydro scheme would open up NSW grid
• Goulburn community solar investment round raises $500,000+

Monthly News Roundup - September 2020

30 September 2020

• CSIRO signs up for 100 per cent solar power with Garnaut’s Zen Energy
• Coles signs 10-year PPA with CleanCo
• Australia’s biggest renewable energy hub to deliver low-cost power for ACT
• 'Renewable revolution': Queensland to put $500m into clean energy fund
• The University of Sydney commits to 100% renewables

Monthly News Roundup - August 2020

3 September 2020

• NSW to fund four new big battery projects 
• Queensland Government announces investment in three renewable energy ‘corridors’ 
• Western Sydney green hydrogen plant gets accelerated planning tick 
• PPA-linked 120 MW solar park goes online in Australia 
• FRV’s Goonumbla solar farm completed in NSW, to supply Snowy Hydro 
• Goldwind considers green fuels for hybrid gas-battery plant
• Solar panel and battery system recycling targeted in NSW grant round
• New England big battery awarded $12.5 million state government grant 

Monthly News Roundup - June 2020

30 June 2020

• NSW first renewable energy zone attracts 27 GW of solar, wind and battery proposals
• New 3.6 GW PV-powered hydrogen project announced in Australia
• First section of massive Moorabool wind farm completed in Victoria
• Australia approves 720 MW solar farm with massive battery
• Queensland adds $23m renewables training centre to Covid-19 stimulus
• Huge 720MW solar farm and very big battery approved for connection to NSW grid

Monthly News Roundup - May 2020

29 May 2020

• Suntech’s 9.4MW Robinvale solar farm completed in Victoria
• Huge Uungula wind project edges closer in NSW renewable energy zone
• Victoria’s Cohuna solar farm complete, joins queue for commissioning
• Juwi to build renewable energy hub in regional Western Australia
• Gransolar Group to build Molong Solar Farm in NSW
• NSW seeks expressions of interest for 3 GW renewable energy zone

Monthly News Roundup - April 2020

5 May 2020

• ARENA backs New England pumped hydro study
• Renewable energy jobs in Australia surge to record levels
• Australia renewables hit 50% of main grid’s net demand on Easter Saturday
• NSW amends planning laws to pave way for standalone big battery projects
• First turbines installed at 110MW Biala wind farm in NSW

Monthly News Roundup - March 2020

30 March 2020

• Acciona to build huge 1GW wind farm in Queensland after landing CleanCo deal
• Climate policy done right: Tasmania sets 200% RE target by 2040
• Canadian Solar inks new Australian PPA with Amazon for output of NSW solar farm
• ARENA funds QLD hydrogen demonstration plant

Monthly News Roundup - February 2020

29 February 2020

• UNSW receives $3 million towards energy storage research
• City of Adelaide inks deal to go 100% renewable from July 2020
• Tasmania’s Granville Harbour wind farm now sending power to the grid
• University of Queensland team makes solar technology breakthrough
• Solar and battery “community renewables park” planned for Orange, NSW
• Wagga Wagga goes solar
• Clean Energy Council awards Women in Renewables grant
• Energy storage research hub launched at UNSW
• Blacktown City Council commits to 100% renewable energy

Monthly News Roundup - January 2020

31 January 2020

• The world will add 142 GW of new solar this year
• Yarranlea solar farm joins the grid in Queensland
• The ACT is now running on 100 renewable electricity
• Australia poised for record large-scale PV rollout in 2020
• Renewable hydrogen costs could halve by 2030, beating “unabated” fossil fuels
• New giant battery creates base for more renewables in Queensland

• The University of Wollongong sets benchmark for sustainable buildings in Australia 
• ARENA and CEFC to kick-start Australia’s ‘clean’ hydrogen industry  
• Most consumers want companies to target 100 per cent renewable energy
• NSW’s first ultra-rapid EV charging station 
• SolarReserve and Aurora Project acquisition 
• ARENA boots Sustainable Australia fund, more renewables access for small businesses

Monthly News Roundup - November 2019

26 November 2019

• Spread the sun: CEC guides benefit sharing of renewable projects
• Federal Government hands $1 billion to Clean Energy Finance Corporation to boost power grid reliability
• Free solar system installations for eligible NSW households
• Highest power prices at night mooted to ease peak-time demand
• Electric or hydrogen — which will win the clean car race?
• NSW announces 3,000MW renewable energy zone, and energy security target
• NSW between a lump of coal and a hard place
• Business demand is helping drive the energy transition to wind and solar