Phase 1 of Queensland's fast-charging EV network is complete

Source: RenewEconomy

The Queensland government, Australia, claims to have completed the “world’s longest electric vehicle superhighway in a single state”. A series of fast-charger station installations reach north-south from Coolangatta to Cairns and east-west from Brisbane to Toowoomba.

There are now fast-charging stations installed in Bowen, Cairns, Carmila, Childers, Gatton, Hamilton, Gold Coast Airport (Coolangatta), Mackay, Marlborough, Maryborough, Miriam Vale, Rockhampton, Springfield, Sunshine Coast (Cooroy), Townsville, Toowoomba and Tully.

At this stage, EV drivers can use the fast-charging stations at no cost. Also the EVs are topped up with low carbon power, the energy supplied at the stations will be bought through green energy credits or offsets.

The state government has a vision to encourage the uptake of EVs in Queensland, getting as many people as possible on board the EV revolution, as part of the state’s transition to a low-emissions future.

Further reading: Phase one of “world’s largest” EV fast-charging network completed in Queensland. RenewEconomy, January 31, 2018.

2017 was a record year for Australian solar but more is expected in 2018

Solar PV capacity installed in Australia (MW DC ) Source RenewEconomy
Green-Residential, Yellow-Commercial, Pale blue-Small power stations, Dark blue-Utility scale solar

“While 2017 was a record year for the solar PV industry in Australia, it will be completely put in the shade by what we’re likely to install in 2018. Our data shows a total 1340 MW of solar PV was installed and operational by the end of December 2017. This is a big number by the standards of Australia’s overall electricity market, not just the solar sector. Yet in 2018 the industry is on track to commission 2.6 times this level of solar PV with more than 3500 MW expected to be installed, once you consider the significant number of large-scale solar projects that were under construction at the end of 2017.” (RenewEconomy, 2018a)

“To put this activity into perspective, the construction activity for large-scale solar will directly support the employment of 4423 people on a job year basis. In addition, there were more than 4,500 people directly employed in the sale and installation of roof-top solar over 2017 (see Green Energy Markets’ Renewable Index for further detail). These people have commissioned nearly 5 million solar panels in 2017 and will commission more than 13 million solar panels in 2018.” (RenewEconomy, 2018a)

Further reading, databases and live energy graph:

Australia added 1.3GW of solar in 2017, and could treble it in 2018. RenewEconomy, January 25, 2018a.

Australian Solar Database - 161 projects, and 19GW of capacity. RenewEconomy, January 23, 2018b.

Large Scale Lookout - Australian Solar Database, RenewEconomy.

RET [Renewable Energy Target] is met, and Frydenberg concedes more wind and solar will lower prices, improve reliability. RenewEconomy, January 23, 2018c.

Australian Energy Live - Supply and Demand with all sources of energy recorded instantaneously.

Postscript: Renewable investment 2018 starts with a claret run. RenewEconomy, February 2, 2018.

Australia's first electric plane is being tested in WA

Source: ABC News

Australia’s first electric plane is undergoing test flights at Perth, Western Australia. It is hoped that it will be flying to nearby Rottnest Island within a few months.

It is a two-seater, single-engine Alpha Electro with two batteries that can keep the plane in the air for an hour with 30 minutes in reserve. The two batteries take an hour to charge using a supercharger.

View a video of the plane here: A look inside Australia’s first electric plane - ABC News, January 4, 2018.
For more information see: Australia’s first electric plane takes to the skies with Rottnest Island in its sights. ABC News, January 11, 2018.

Renewable energy for steelworks in Australia

Whyalla Steelworks (Source ABC News)

UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty OneSteel Group is the new owner of the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. He plans to build 1 gigawatt (1,000MW) of dispatchable renewables in and around Whyalla, where his steel plant is located. This would comprise huge investments in solar, battery storage, pumped hydro and demand management. The renewable energy porject will knock 40 percent off his electricity costs.

Gupta is also looking to repeat the dose - although with varying mixes and scale of renewables and storage - to power the company’s steel operations in Melbourne and Sydney. He said he wanted these bigger plants to eventually be powered 100 per cent by renewable energy.

At Whyalla, the plans are to build a 200MW solar farm by early 2019; a 100MW/100MWh battery storage facility and a 100MW of demand response at the Whyalla steel works and other facilities by the end of 2019; and a pumped hydro storage facility at a disused iron ore mine pit by 2020.

The work will be carried out through Zen Energy, the Australia renewable and battery storage company in which Gupta’s Liberty group bought a majority stake soon after the Whyalla purchase.

For further reading: Whyalla steel city goes green with 1GW of solar and storage. RenewEconomy, October 30, 2017.
Also related: Gupta plans EV plant in Australia, powered by solar and storage. RenewEconomy, January 22, 2018.
Postscripts:
- Gupta signs up solar farm to power Victoria’s steelworks. RenewEconomy, May 2, 2018.
- Gupta doubles down on green industrial plans for Whyalla, powered by cheap renewables. RenewEconomy, December 10, 2018.

Renewables in the UK generated triple the power of coal in 2017

Photograph Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

“British wind farms generated more electricity than coal plants on more than 75% of days [last] year, an analysis of energy figures has shown.

Solar also outperformed coal more than half the time, the data provided by website MyGridGB revealed.

Overall, renewables provided more power than coal plants on 315 days in 2017, figures up to 12 December showed. Wind beat coal on 263 days, and solar outperformed the fossil fuel on 180 days."

"Emma Pinchbeck, executive director at industry body RenewableUK, said the decision to phase out coal was being made possible by a homegrown renewables industry “coming into its own”.

She added: “We want to see more boldness from the Conservative government. In 2018, the government should move to allow onshore wind, now the cheapest form of power for consumers, to be developed in parts of the UK where it is wanted, and agree an ambitious sector deal with the offshore wind industry.”"

Read more at: Renewables generated triple the power of coal in 2017, UK figures show. The Guardian (Australian Edition) December 28, 2017.

Better solar access for low income earners in the ACT

Photo by Julie May

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government has a goal to have 100% renewable electricity by 2020. Partly to achieve this goal, it has provided funding over four years to allow those in possession of an Australian Government pensioner concession card and own a home to access subsidised solar systems.

The participants will be offered a rebate of up to 60% on costs for the supply and installation of a rooftop solar photovoltaic system. The subsidy will also cover upgrades for a switchboard and smart metre if required. They will also have access to an interest-free loan to payback the remaining installation costs over three years.

This solar program is set to help these low income households save $A300 to $A900 a year on energy costs.

References:
Canberra Weekly, January 11, 2018, page 6.
Solar for low income households - Actsmart - ACT Government.

2017 showed global clean energy revolution is unstoppable, no matter what Trump does

Workers examining solar panels in a rural landscape (Source: RenewEconomy)

RenewEconomy reproduced this article with the above title from ThinkProgress by Joe Romm with permission. It is well worth reading the whole article which references data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and other good sources, but here is a brief summary:

The price of installing and building new renewable energy is now cheaper than just running old coal and nuclear plants.

“Solar remains the most amazing story. Solar panel prices plunged by a shocking 26 percent in the last year - despite having already dropped 80 percent in price in the previous 10 years and 99 percent since the late 1970s.”

Similarly, the price of wind energy has dropped almost as much. More importantly, the price of building offshore wind dropped by 28% in a year making this more reliable and convenient wind energy source very competitive.

“The battery revolution is another incredible story, one that will speed the renewable energy transition while enabling the rapid switch to electric cars. Battery pack prices have dropped 75 percent since 2010 alone ....... and BNEF projects they will drop another 75 percent by 2030.”

Read more at: 2017 showed global clean energy revolution is unstoppable, no matter what Trump does. RenewEconomy, December 15, 2017.
Also see: This is how coal dies: super cheap renewables plus battery storage, also by Joe Romm from ThinkProgress via RenewEconomy.

Half of all new cars sold in Norway in 2017 were electric or hybrid

Electric car rally, Geiranger Norway (Image: Norsk elbilforening via Flickr)

Norway was one of the earliest nations to set a coherent and broad-based national plan to cut its carbon emissions, and then stick to it.

For road transport, it plans to phase out sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025 using a variety of carrots (financial incentives and special privileges) and sticks (very high taxes on conventional vehicles) to get there.

In 2016, 40% of new car sales were electrified in some way. Now the Norwegian Road Federation reports that more than half of new vehicles sold in 2017 were electric or hybrid. Battery-electric cars now constitute almost 150,000 of the country's 2.7 million on-road vehicles, or roughly 5 percent.

The power to drive these vehicles comes from an electricity grid made up of 98% renewable energy. This renewable energy is mostly flexible hydropower plus wind and thermal energy.

Read further at: Half of all new cars sold in Norway last year are electric or hybrid, as diesel ebbs fast. Green Car Reports, Jan 8, 2018.

Coober Pedy goes off grid with solar, battery hybrid system

Coober Pedy solar panels (from One Step off the Grid)

“South Australia’s iconic opal mining town of Coober Pedy has successfully – and finally – made the shift to clean energy, and is already achieving periods of 100 per cent renewables since the completion of its wind, solar, battery storage and diesel hybrid system last [October].”

“The result notches up another win for Hydro Tasmania, whose busy Hybrid Energy Solutions team recently took Rottnest Island [Western Australia] to 45 per cent renewables, with up to 90 per cent instantaneous renewable contribution achievable.”

Hydro Tasmania has done the same in Bass Strait for both Flinders Island and the larger King Island which both have wind, solar and battery storage and diesel hybrid off-grid electricity solutions to minimise their use of diesel.

Read more at: Coober Pedy enjoys 100% renewables after switch to hybrid solar, wind + battery system. One Step off the Grid, November 30, 2017

India builds large-scale solar plants over canals

Canal Solar Power Pilot Project in Kadi (photo Wikipedia)

As India moves to ramp up investment in solar power, it is exploring innovative places to install solar plants, including across the top of canals. This is to save on both land and water resources.

Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, inaugurated a 1 Megawatt (MW) pilot project on 24 April 2012. The project is situated on the Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district, Gujarat.

Then in 2014, the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inaugurated a new 10 MW "canal-top" solar energy plant in Vadodara district in India's western state of Gujarat. Completed in under six months, the plant's $18.3 million cost - including 25 years of operation and maintenance - is recoverable in 13 years, according to Umesh Chandra Jain, chief engineer with Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), the Gujarat government agency that administers this facility and another smaller one.

According to SSNNL, the 10 MW plant has saved on 16 hectares of land, and will potentially prevent 90 million litres of water from evaporating each year.

However, one problem is the cost. The 1 MW canal-top plant cost $2.8 million, according to SSNNL, whereas a 1 MW land-based solar plant costs $2.3 million [2015 prices]. Another problem is that PV panels are usually mounted facing southwards for optimal performance, but a canal might curve and change direction. Using only north-south stretches of water could limit the scale of canal-top plants. Also long-term exposure to environmental stresses and ingress of water into the panels could reduce their performance. Further concerns center on the potential environmental impacts of canal-top plants on their surroundings, as the risks remain unclear.

For further reading see:

India builds solar plants atop canals to save land, water. Reuters, Jan 16 2015.

Solar panels over canals may help India combat climate change. The Quint, Jan 29, 2017.