Monthly News Roundup - February 2020

29 February 2020

Here is the Energy Next news round up for February 2020.

 

UNSW receives $3 million towards energy storage research

A total of $3 million in Australian Research Council (ARC) funding is going towards a research hub for developing cheaper and more effective energy storage for Australians, including towards storage technology manufacturing.

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City of Adelaide inks deal to go 100% renewable from July 2020

The City of Adelaide has revealed it will power all of its operations and council-owned facilities with 100 per cent renewable energy via a power purchase deal with Flow Power that will kick off in July.

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Tasmania’s Granville Harbour wind farm now sending power to the grid

Tasmania’s 112MW Granville Harbour wind farm has started sending power to the grid – although just a fraction of the one-third increase to the state’s wind power capacity it will ultimately deliver.

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University of Queensland team makes solar technology breakthrough

University of Queensland researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of a solar power technology that can be made into thin, flexible films and used to generate electricity even in low-light conditions, for example, for cars, planes, and homes.

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Solar and battery “community renewables park” planned for Orange, NSW

Plans to build a large-scale solar and battery storage plant in the central western New South Wales city of Orange have been submitted to the local council by the Australian arm of ITP Renewables.

The development application, published for exhibition last week by the Orange City Council, details plans for 5MWW of solar PV and a 5MWh battery energy storage system.

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Wagga Wagga goes solar

The City of Wagga Wagga’s Energy Saving Projects amounts to a $1.7 million commitment to a greener future over the next two years. The Project’s main tools? Smarter energy usage and solar PV. 

The Wagga Wagga City Council Solar Project involves three separate installations of hundreds of solar panels at a cost of approximately $360,000.

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Clean Energy Council awards Women in Renewables grant

The Clean Energy Council, in conjunction with Monash Business School, has awarded the 2020 Women in Renewables Your Leadership Voice: Women in Focus grant.

Bridget Ryan, Policy and Government Lead at global energy-tech company GreenSync, has been awarded the grant for 2020.

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Energy storage research hub launched at UNSW

Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan was on hand at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) on 25 February to launch the ARC Research Hub alongside scientific and technological leaders. The world-class facility aims to develop energy storage technologies to aid the nation’s, and the world’s, transition to renewable energies through the overcoming of intermittency issues.

Read the full story here

 

Blacktown City Council Commits To 100% Renewables (Electricity)

Sydney’s Blacktown City Council voted in favour of a target of 100% renewable electricity for its operations by 2025. The target was one of a number of climate change related recommendations adopted, including the declaration of a climate emergency – making it the 93rd Australian council to do so.

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Downer exits Australian solar sector as risks pile up

Another big player has existed the Australian solar sector highlighting the impact of PV project commissioning delays on the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) businesses. Sydney-based contractor Downer Group has decided to no longer bid to build solar pointing to the risks in the company’s fixed-price bids on major projects.

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