Oceania

Year 2019 saw some 19.5 GW of wind and solar energy contracted by corporations globally through power purchase agreements, up more than 40% from the previous year’s record. The bulk of this purchase occurred in the U.S. with tech companies and oil and gas majors leading the charge. India, however, saw a drop amid rollback of attractive policies, says a new report from BloombergNEF.

California-based SimpliPhi Power, which designs and manufactures lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) energy storage systems, has brought off-grid power to everything from the giant moon on Conan O’Brien’s talk show set to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, to rooftops for Whole Foods and Airbnb. As the company prepares to enter into India, CEO and President Catherine Von Burg tells pv magazine why their LFP technology is best suited for India and their plans for the country.

Two years after announcing its market entry, the India-based EPC heavyweight has commenced construction of its first Australian project.

Market intelligence company Navigant Research has developed a country forecast of the global market. Incentives and pricing will be the main driver of installations, though the market will continue to be concentrated in certain key regions, including India, for now.

Worth around US$635 million, the latest award follows the EPC contract for a 200 MW DC solar farm in Australia amounting to AUD 220.83 million.

Plans to develop an 18 GWh lithium-ion battery factory in northern Queensland have reached an important milestone with the project feasibility study submitted to the Queensland government.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will contribute $15 million towards a planned nationwide network of ultra-fast charging stations that could show the way ahead for electromobility in India.

The global installed capacity will grow from a modest 9 GW/17 GWh as of 2018 to 1,095 GW/2,850 GWh in the next two decades. Just 10 countries will account for almost 75% of the overall gigawatt market, with China, USA, India and Germany leading the pack.

The Palo Alto company says it has improved its large scale battery offering with the new product in the wake of the success of its Powerpack-driven big battery in Australia. The Megapack can be deployed at a 250 MW/1 GWh clean energy plant four times faster than a fossil fuel alternative, claimed the business in a blogpost.

The cost of solar power generation in India has fallen to half the level seen in many other markets in the region due to extensive solar resource, market scale and competition.