Australian clean energy trailblazers win top global awards

Australia might be dragging its feet on clean energy policy, but two major international gongs awarded to Australian recipients this week show we are still kicking some goals in renewables R&D.

The first award – the Grand Prize in the 2014 Global CleanTech Cluster Association (GCCA) Later Stage Awards – was claimed by Victorian solar tech leader RayGen Resources, for its proven track record in its home market, its international expansion plans, its strong investment credentials and value-capture in its chosen industry.

RayGen’s win follows the company’s part in a major solar efficiency breakthrough, as reported by RE yesterday, after a concentrating solar PV prototype by the UNSW – using RayGen’s solar tower technology – converted a world record 40% of sunlight into electricity.

Commenting on the new record, Ivor Frischknecht – the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which helped fund the research, and has also backed the commercialisation of RayGen’s solar power tower – said the breakthrough showed the “real potential” of RayGen Resources’ concentrating PV technology.

Earlier this year, the company signed a lucrative distribution and investment agreement with China Intense Solar that will enable the roll-out of a 10MW commercial-scale operation in China in 2016. RayGen is also in the process of commissioning the first site deployment of CSPV tower power in regional Victoria following the recent establishment of its first test facility in Melbourne.

This week’s second honourable mention goes to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s Peter Suen, who has picked up a global award in a top financial modelling competition.

Suen, whose role at the CEFC is to oversee business case modelling and analysis of proposed clean energy investments, won third prize in the 2014 ModelOff World Championships on Sunday, against a field of 16 of the globe’s top financial modellers.

To make the finals, Suen competed against over 4,000 modellers from over 100 countries. He was one of 100 Australian and New Zealand entrants who made it to round 2 in late October and one of 16 worldwide who made it to the finals in New York.

It is the second year he has entered the competition that involves advanced financial modelling using Microsoft Excel, with finalists drawn from global institutions including the Commonwealth Bank, PwC, Fonterra, Deloitte and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Diarmuid Early from Deutsche Bank won the 2014 competition.