Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says the government will not buy Liddell Power Station
Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has again expressed disappointment about AGL’s refusal to sell the Liddell power station to Alinta. In a Sky News interview, he restated that Government owned power is not on the cards. To recap: Alinta had offered to buy the Liddell plant and keep it open beyond its current closure date […]
Sydney university tests feasibility of solar gardens in Australia
A feasibility study will explore whether solar gardens could work for renters and apartment dwellers in Australia. The Institute of Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney will conduct the trial at various regions across eastern Australia. These include Byron Bay and Blacktown in NSW, Swan Hill in Victoria and Townsville in Queensland. ARENA […]
RateSetter Australia and CEFC announce extension of green loans program
RateSetter Australia and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) have announced an 18-month extension of their green loans program. Launched in 2017, RateSetter’s green loan marketplace was the CEFC’s first investment in a peer-to-peer lending platform. The program provides affordable loans to households and businesses for purchasing renewable and energy efficient products. The CEFC provided […]
AGL refuses to sell Liddell power station despite heated Government attacks
AGL has knocked back a bid by Alinta Energy that would result in an ageing Liddell power station sale in a move that has infuriated coal-centric Coalition MPs. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott is now calling for compulsory acquisition of the NSW coal-fired plant. He suggests this could be funded by taxpayers then offered to […]
‘No new coal plants for Australia’ says Energy Australia chief
Australian power companies can help lead and accelerate the clean energy transformation according to Energy Australia’s managing director. Catherine Tanna told Bloomberg that renewables must be fully integrated into a new national energy system for the transformation to take place. Coal will continue to have a role in Australian energy, Tanna says. Yet she doesn’t […]
NSW Greens MP backs bill for minimum solar feed-in tariff
A new bill setting a minimum solar feed-in tariff (FiT) for householders and businesses has been introduced to the NSW Parliament. The Greens’ Renewable Energy spokesperson Tamara Smith says the ‘Electricity Supply Amendment (Fair Price for Solar and Other Renewable Sources of Electricity) Bill’ will reward small-scale solar generators and prevent price hikes. According to […]
Tesla Powerpack battery a Gold Winner at Australian design awards
The innovative Tesla battery installed at Hornsdale Wind Farm has taken out two of Australia’s top design and sustainability awards. Tesla Powerpack’s ground-breaking technology won two categories in the 60th Annual Good Design Awards held at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday night. The Tesla installation emerged as Gold Winner in Engineering Design for outstanding […]
CER data shows 47,000 small scale solar installations for Q1 2018
Data from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) shows there were 50,592 small-scale renewable energy installations during the first quarter of 2018 across Australia. 41,611 (or 82 per cent) of these were small scale solar panel systems, 5,811 were solar water heaters, and the rest were air source heat pumps. The most common installation system size […]
The Tesla iPhone X: Gold-plated iPhone has its own solar battery — but it’s not cheap
A Russian company has released a gold-plated iPhone with a dedicated solar battery retailing at more than US$4,000. Customised by Russian accessory manufacturer Caviar, the iPhone X Tesla features a solar panel on the back. While Caviar planned to release only 99 phones, a pre-order boom subsequently boosted the figure to 999 units. Caviar has […]
Cook Islands to be fully powered by solar plus battery power by 2020
New solar plus battery projects in the Cook Islands demonstrate how off-grid regions can escape reliance on diesel generators. Six of the twelve inhabited Cook Islands are the target of hybrid renewable energy projects comprising solar and solar battery technology. The first of these, on Mitiaro Island, is now complete and should be able to […]