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than it could have otherwise been, Neoen explained. Hybrids in Australia, tender wins in Europe Solar’s positive role in Neoen’s H1 2019

host of new solar soft-and-hardware is set to be released in Australia over the next two days, with All-Energy Australia taking place at the Melbourne

finishes Vince Allen and David Hu in 2015 to increase solar cell growth in Australia. "We've expanded from a little PhD project in a garage to producing some of

Australian renewables developer YES Group has inked a memorandum of understanding with China’s JA Solar, securing 100 MW of high-efficiency photovoltaic modules for a pipeline of projects scheduled to break ground next year. The pact, announced on Monday, tasks JA Solar’s Australian and New Zealand arm with delivering its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro panels in 2025. The flagship n-type modules—unveiled only last year—generate up to 635 W apiece and reach a conversion efficiency of 22.8%, making them a tempting option for both sprawling commercial rooftops and land-constrained residential arrays. For YES Group, which finances and builds behind-the-meter and utility-scale systems across Australia, the supply deal is designed to lock in price and performance certainty as equipment demand rises ahead of the government’s 2030 renewable-energy targets. Company executives say the agreement will cover several projects now in late-stage development across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, although precise sites were not disclosed. JA Solar, founded in 2005 and now one of the world’s top five module makers, framed the MOU as part of a broader push to deepen local partnerships. Steven Chen, president for East Asia and the South Pacific, called collaboration with “leading enterprises” essential to expanding the firm’s Australian footprint, adding that localized service teams are poised to support installation and after-sales needs. The DeepBlue line is JA Solar’s answer to developers looking to squeeze more energy out of every square metre. By using larger n-type cells and a half-cut design, the panels promise better low-light performance and lower degradation rates than previous generations. They also ship with reinforced frames—an advantage in Australia’s hail-prone zones—and come pre-certified to withstand the country’s stringent wind-load requirements. YES Group expects that certainty of supply and the modules’ higher output will shave months off construction schedules and improve project economics, giving it a competitive edge as states begin to retire ageing coal plants. Once installed, the 100 MW tranche could generate roughly 150 GWh of clean electricity a year—enough to power about 30,000 Australian homes and offset nearly 120,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. With the agreement in place, detailed engineering and grid-connection studies are already underway. Groundbreaking on the first sites is pencilled in for early 2025, positioning the partners to deliver new capacity just as Australia’s demand for zero-emission power ramps up.

second-largest retail electricity provider in Australia. The number of the utility’s customers exceeds 3.7mn. Besides electricity retailing, AGL generates

actually won its very first order from ICM Australia, the UK-based Faradion is currently wanting to produce its sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries in India for

a land of long distances such as Australia, the perennial problem of range anxiety has hindered the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs). Dodging trams in a Tesla in

of its entire portfolio of solar parks and battery energy storage projects in Australia. This strategic decision, revealed in its recent financial report, is aimed at

in the development of its Waroona solar-plus-storage project in Western Australia, failing to secure capacity credits from the Australian Energy Market

of 50MW/64.5 MWh of Tesla batteries. Having actually drawn in an $8 million Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) give, $15 million in state financing, as well

Australia’s solar coaster headed south in the first half of 2019, as a perfect storm hit the industry. The first sign of trouble was the fallout when RCR Tomlinson was placed in voluntary administration in the second half of 2018. The downfall of the top utility-scale EPC contractor highlighted the construction and commissioning risks associated with PV development. Next came the New South Wales state election on March 23, 2019, in which the opposition Labor Party proposed a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, which would have been achieved through a series of reverse auctions. The party subsequently lost the election to the incumbent Liberal government, which has a zero net emissions target by 2050 and incentives for residential solar and batteries, but no utility-scale renewables incentives.   In the same month, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) published its first-round draft of Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs), which measure the impact of electricity losses along the network. However, there would be a second release in April before AEMO finalized them in June. The industry took another whack, with six solar farms in New South Wales and Victoria having their MLFs reduced by more than 10%, highlighting the risk of grid congestion.   Who’s who   The boom in the utility-scale PV industry has attracted local and foreign participants across the industry’s entire value chain. The list of the top 10 utility-scale developers (see chart below) is a dynamic and rapidly changing one, as new, bigger projects have broken ground, particularly in the last 12 months. Neoen has been very active in the Australian market, commissioning five utility-scale PV farms in 2018, all in New South Wales, with a combined capacity of just over 250 MW (AC). In 2019, Neoen commissioned a further 100 MW of PV in particularly in the last 12 months in Numurkah, Victoria. The French developer also tops the list of lithium-ion battery developers and ranks within the top 10 wind developers.     Familiar names make up the top 10 module suppliers to the utility-scale PV market in Australia. Canadian Solar takes the top spot, as it is currently supplying modules to several large-scale projects including Darlington Point (275 MW), Kiamal stage 1 (200 MW) and Finley (133 MW). JinkoSolar is a close second, as it has supplied the 200 MW Maoneng Sunraysia project and all of the utility-scale PV in South Australia (Bungala Phase 1 and 2 and Tailem Bend).   The majority of utility-scale solar farms in Australia utilize single-axis tracking to minimize their LCOE. Although this may seem obvious in the Australian market, single-axis tracking has yet to take off in neighboring markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines or Vietnam. The tracker supplier market is dominated by Nextracker and Array Technologies, but in the past 18 months, several new companies have entered the market, including Arctech Solar, Ideematec, Exosun and Soltec.   The inverter market is by far the most concentrated of the major segments. SMA currently has a 60% market share, while second-place Ingeteam controls 23% of the market. The remainder is mostly covered by Schneider Electric (15%), which pulled out of the utility-scale inverter business earlier in 2019, and Power Electronics, which has supplied two projects in Queensland (Rugby Run Stage 1 and Barcaldine).   Short-term hurdles   The renewables industry went through a record period of construction and commissioning activity in 2018-19, transitioning from a megawatt-scale market to a gigawatt-scale one. Moving forward, the industry will grapple with the challenges surrounding transmission constraints and securing offtake. Yet positives remain, including recently announced reverse auctions from the Australian Capital Territory, AEMO ISP Group 1 investments (synchronous condensers in South Australia, congestion reduction in Northwest Victoria and interconnection upgrades), five-minute settlements coming in 2021, and the shutdown of the 500 MW Liddell coal power station in 2022-23.   Bright future   There is no denying that predicting the future even just one or two years ahead is challenging. The key challenges of simply getting enough transmission capacity built to get renewable generation to load remains, as well as a political environment that is less than favorable toward renewable energy. However, a whole host of positive factors will drive longer-term growth. These include a massive number of projects that have yet to break ground (>100 GW), the continuously improving economics of PV/wind/storage, the retirement of coal and the high price of gas. Most notably, the declining cost of lithium-ion batteries has led to the pipeline expanding from less than 2 GW at the start of 2018 to more than 11 GW at the time of writing. The cost reductions of lithium-ion batteries are being driven by mass manufacturing, mainly in China, for use in electric vehicles. Their cost reductions will begin the next big wave of firmed renewables, which is expected to start in the early 2020s.

said Michael Gartner, taking care of supervisor of Photon Energy Group, Australia and also CTO of Photon Energy Group. Photon anticipates to invest the

will collaborate on advertising and marketing Heliogen's innovation in Australia, and also Woodside will certainly take an equity interest in

innovative bargains such as a baseload contract with mining group BHP Group in Australia. Continual green power will certainly be supplied via a combination of

signed an agreement to jointly develop a 100-MW solar project in northeastern Australia. The Pleasant Hills solar project, located in Queensland, will supply