Australian Greens move to block Morrison’s quest for a government funded gas plant in Kurri Kurri, proposing a ban on Snowy Hydro fossil fuel investments.
Utilities
Portland Smelter secures $160m energy deal to stay open and act like giant battery
Alcoa strikes $160m deal to keep Portland Smelter open, with the aluminium producer set to play a bigger role as a virtual battery in the Victorian grid.
TransGrid proposes new route options for Snowy 2.0 network upgrades
TransGrid takes steps to assuage concerns about the broader impacts of Snowy 2.0, with release of new route options for the $2.1 billion HumeLink transmission upgrade.
Western Australia sets new record for wind and solar share, and minimum demand
Western Australia sets a new record for wind and solar share in its stand-alone grid, while the growth in rooftop solar pushes grid demand to a record low the following day.
Faulty wiring at gas plant caused “unacceptable” NT blackout, investigation finds
Faulty wiring and human error blamed for accidental cut to gas supplies at Darwin’s largest gas generator that sent almost 50,000 into blackout.
AGL starts coal upgrade, as ANU says faster shift to wind and solar needed
New ANU research shows Australia needs to up the pace on new wind and solar investment, as AGL spends $152m upgrading Bayswater coal plant.
Switching off rooftop solar will become an important feature of a renewables grid
About 10,000 South Australian households had their rooftop solar switched off on Sunday. They probably didn’t even notice the intervention, and certainly not their place in Australia’s grid history.
Victoria slammed for refusing to release details of secret Yallourn closure deal
Dirty deal? Victoria won’t disclose details of ‘secret’ agreement with EnergyAustralia over Yallourn closure, with speculation it is paying to keep it open.
Inverters are solving grid issues at fraction of cost of spinning machines
Solar farms in Queensland say tuning inverters is solving grid problems at a fraction of the cost of synchronous condensers some project developers have been obliged to install.
Fire takes out biggest gas generator in South Australia, AEMO curtails rooftop solar
Havoc in South Australia grid as fire sidelines biggest gas generator, sending prices soaring, and AEMO steps in to take out some rooftop PV for first time to deal with plunging demand.
