Asia & Oceania

Utility giant Engie’s Australian division has reached financial close on its 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm project in northern Victoria.

Analyst firm BloombergNEF has cautioned that Australia requires around A$2.4 trillion (US$1.6 trillion) investment to reach net zero, with solar PV and wind installations to reach 290GW by 2050.

Australia's Origin Energy has cancelled its 130MW Morgan and 74MW Carisbrook solar PV projects due to “unfavourable conditions”.

Against the backdrop of uncertain economics in the PV sector as a whole, the price of high-purity quartz sand has also fallen.

AEMO has published two engineering roadmaps that highlight successes in supporting 'the continuous increase of renewables in the energy mix'.

Renewable energy developer Acen Australia has seen the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC) approve its 600MW Birriwa solar-plus-storage project.

Australian mining giant Fortescue Metals Group has started constructing a US$50 million project in Western Australia. The project aims to harness solar PV to produce green hydrogen, which will be used to create green metals.

Solar project developer Lightsource bp has secured NZ$267 million (US$162 million) to support the development of its 168MWdc Kōwhai Park solar PV project at Christchurch Airport, New Zealand.

Genesis Energy has added a 127MWp solar PV project to its portfolio, with the goal of securing 500MW of grid-scale solar by 2028.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is set to integrate new rules surrounding consumer energy resources (CER) to exercise greater control over their use, aiding solar PV’s role in the electricity mix.