The rise and rise of rooftop solar PV has established Australia as a renewable energy powerhouse, with new figures from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) revealing the nation achieved a record in renewable capacity in 2020.

The world’s biggest solar+storage project is a step closer to realization, as the government of Australia’s Northern Territory and Singapore-based Sun Cable have signed a deal to advance the development of the Australia-ASEAN Power Link.

Western Australia-based solar glass developer ClearVue has commenced installation of its transparent solar PV glazing panels at what will be the world’s first clear solar glass greenhouse.

Australian Vanadium is pushing ahead with plans to develop a vanadium redox flow battery for the Australian residential market, via its VSUN Energy subsidiary.

A proposed 400 MW pumped-hydro storage project is on track to become the first of its kind in more than three decades in Queensland, Australia. GE Renewable Energy is backing the plan.

In the first year of operation, the thermal energy storage tank saved 4,232 tonnes of CO2 emissions – with 3,082 tonnes saved by the University of the Sunshine Coast through using solar power instead of grid electricity, and the rest by feeding solar energy into the grid.

South Australian utility SA Water is set to flick the switch on the “world’s largest” portable solar array, as work has started on a 12 MW prefabricated PV system at the Happy Valley Reservoir near Adelaide.

Plans to build a large-scale solar farm at Harlin in Queensland’s Somerset Council region continue to gather momentum after Singaporean infrastructure investor Keppel Corporation agreed to pour more than $3 million into the project.

Centennial Coal has secured more than US$3.8 million in government funding to assess the feasibility of turning a coal mine near Newcastle, New South Wales, into a pumped hydro storage site that could supply 600 MW of renewables to the grid.

Australia’s first utility-scale vanadium flow battery will be built in South Australia. It will demonstrate the tech’s potential to provide energy and frequency control ancillary services for the national grid.