Consultation opened on Tuesday morning on the design of the federal government’s Solar Sunshot program, announced late last month. Sunshot is budgeted at $1 billion. It was announced on March 28 by prime minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to NSW Hunter Valley, which has a strong heritage in coal mining, pledging to “invest in…
By Simon Wright, Charles Sturt University Connecting cheap, clean energy from renewables comes with a hidden cost and challenge: building 5,000 kilometres of new transmission lines this decade, and another 5,000km after that. This sounds like a lot, but 5,000km is only around 10% of the existing grid network, and unlocks more than 32 gigawatts…
Jemena’s Malabar Biomethane Project, which is injecting biomethane from processed wastewater in the gas network, has become the first renewable gas project to receive certification under the new GreenPower accreditation program. The GreenPower Renewable Gas Certification Pilot was launched in 2023 and operates nationwide. According to its website, certification enables commercial and industrial users “to…
The federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced a $1,666,701 grant to Aboriginal Clean Energy Partnership (ACEP) to support Phase 1 of the feasibility study for the East Kimberley Clean Energy and Hydrogen Project. The total value of the Phase 1 study is $3,333,403, and according to ARENA represents “a key step in…
By Vikki McLeod, Queensland University of Technology and Marcus Foth, Queensland University of Technology Rooftop solar is Australia’s cheapest source of electricity. The consumer can get electricity from rooftop solar at less than a fifth of the average cost per kwh of buying it from a retailer. Unsurprisingly, rooftop solar output is growing fast. In…
By Magnus Söderberg, Griffith University and Phillip Wild, Griffith University Building transmission lines is often controversial. Farmers who agree to host new lines on their property may be paid, while other community members protest against the visual intrusion. Pushback against new lines has slowed development and forced the government to promise more consultation. It’s not…
The NSW government has announced $275 million in Net Zero Manufacturing Initiative grants, which it says will help small businesses and others “take advantage of the transformation of our energy grid”. According to a statement from the government on Monday, the grants will be across three programs: Renewable manufacturing: increasing capacity to make the components…
Diraq opens commercial laboratory in Sydney Silicon-based quantum computing company Diraq opened its new commercial laboratory, located UNSW’s campus at Sydney, on Tuesday. The company, which announced a successful Series A-2 capital raise of $29 million (US$15m) last week, said the lab is “a critical step” in its plans “to leverage today’s semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure…
The Queensland government has released an ambitious $570 million Queensland Battery Industry Strategy aiming to spur nation leading investment in renewable energy to create clean economy jobs. The strategy supports battery industry innovation, commercialisation, investment, supply-chain growth, and will promote Queensland nationally and internationally, according to a statement. It estimates that Queensland’s battery industry could…
Electrical engineering business Ampcontrol has announced that it is partnering with offshore wind developer, Star of the South, on the proposed Destiny Wind wind farm off the Hunter coast. An area covering 1,854 square kilometres off NSW’s Hunter region was declared suitable for offshore wind development by the federal government in July last year. It…
