Southeast Asia & Oceania

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has allocated up to US$15.2 million for a new research and development (R&D) round set to help industry-partnered projects that are looking to develop and commercialise renewable energy technologies.

Australia’s anti-dumping commission has terminated its investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese-made PV modules imported into the country.

The 3.275 MW Gatton Solar Research Facility at the University of Queensland (UQ) has been completed.

Major tier-one PV manufacturer JinkoSolar has finally said its first major overseas solar cell and module manufacturing facility is based in Penang, Malaysia.

AGL Energy’s 102MW Nyngan Solar Plant in western New South Wales is expected to begin its first generation next month, and be fully operational by July 2015.

Australia’s environment minister Greg Hunt has ordered an inquiry into the quality of solar system installations.

Abu Dhabi-based Renewable energy firm Masdar has revealed that construction has commenced on four PV plants in the Pacific island countries of Kiribati, Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Kyocera Corporation is to develop a 13.4MW floating solar power plant in Japan.

Integrated US photovoltaic energy company SunPower’s solar panels will be sold as part of a package that includes energy management software and energy storage capabilities to residential customers in the US and Australia from early next year.

The Australian government’s renewable energy division will trial the capabilities of on-grid energy storage to maximise the value of rooftop solar, announcing yesterday that it will provide funding for a trial by energy storage specialist Reposit Power.