The Victorian government has given BrightNight approval to begin development of the $700 million Mortlake Energy Hub, a hybrid solar and battery energy storage project. Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said on Thursday that the fast-tracked project is expected to create approximately 300 construction jobs. According to its website, the energy hub is planned as…
By Peter Roberts Zinc bromine flow battery manufacturer Redflow has gone into voluntary administration after failing to secure new funds from investors. The company, which manufactures its Australian developed batteries in Thailand, has appointed Richard Hughes and David Orr from Deloitte as administrators. Redflow was one of the first to launch a commercial zinc flow…
By Bruce Mountain, Victoria University Imagine if Australian cities became major producers of clean energy, rather than relying on far-flung solar and wind farms. Far fetched? Hardly. Our cities and towns are full of warehouses, commercial areas, shopping centres and factories. These types of buildings have one very important underutilised resource – large expanses of…
By Peter Newman, Curtin University The extent to which renewables should dominate Australia’s energy grids is a major issue in science and politics. Solar and wind are clearly now the cheapest form of electricity. But limits to these technologies can undermine the case for a renewables-only electricity mix. The challenges posed by solar and wind…
A $20 million Gold Coast factory producing both community lithium batteries and EV chargers will be operational next month, according to the company behind it. In a statement on Tuesday, eLumina said the site was nearing completion and is set to produce 300 batteries annually, and that onshore EV technology manufacture would be essential to…
SCEE Electrical has been awarded a $50 million contract to help link the Collie big battery energy storage system to the power grid. Western Australian energy provider Synergy awarded the switchyard works to SCEE, to which it had awarded a $160 million contract in May, covering civil, electrical, and major equipment installation works at the…
By Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Opposition leader Peter Dutton might have been hoping for an endorsement from economists for his plan to take Australian nuclear. He shouldn’t expect one from The Economist. The Economist is a British weekly news magazine that has reported on economic thinking and served as…
The federal government will roll out of more than 420 community batteries across the country in a move it says is lowering household power bills and boosting reliability in the electricity grid. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will support up to 370 community batteries as part of Round 1 of its Community Batteries Fund, an…
Vast Renewables has deepened its relationship with its partner and potential offtake customer for its concentrated solar thermal powered (CSP) green methanol plant Solar Methanol 1 (SM1) being constructed at Port Pirie in South Australia. Vast has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with global energy company Mabanaft to advance the Port Augusta green methanol…
Richmond Vanadium Technology (RVT) is planning a vanadium redox flow battery manufacturing facility to complement its Julia Creek vanadium project in Queensland. The company will collaborate with Dalian Rongke Power Group (RKP) and TS Hold Co to establish a complete localised renewable energy and long duration energy storage supply chain in Australia. TS Hold Co…
