The Western Australian Government has launched a two-year pilot project to discover ways to make the most of household solar and battery assets.
Named ‘Project Symphony’ and in collaboration with the Australian Government, the pilot will involve 500 households and businesses and the 900 distributed energy resources assets operating as a virtual power plant in Perth’s Southern River area.
The plan is to work out how distributed energy resources can best benefit electricity customers participating in a future energy market and the power network.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the project was important to help understand how rooftop solar and batteries could be centrally orchestrated to balance broad-scale electricity supply.
“We currently have power stations at the edge of our networks, with lots of wires carrying high voltages hundreds of kilometres.
“But in the future, houses will become the power station through their rooftop solar.
“Project Symphony will test how increased access to renewables can benefit communities and is a major deliverable of the Distributed Energy Resources Roadmap.”
The Morrison Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is contributing $8.6m to the $35.5m project while the Western Australian Government has invested $19.3m and AEMO $7.6m.
The pilot project is a partnership between Western Power, WA energy retailer Synergy and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
Stanwell solar deal set to power CQ hydrogen production
A large-scale renewable hydrogen facility planned for Gladstone could be powered with Queensland sunshine as part of an agreement signed yesterday.
Queensland’s Stanwell Corporation and international renewables company ACCIONA Energia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on future energy supply for a proposed three-gigawatt hydrogen facility in Aldoga.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the MOU signifies further progress for the Stanwell-led CQ-H2 consortium.
“This large-scale facility could export renewable hydrogen to Japan as well as supply large industrial customers in Central Queensland,” he said.
Under the MoU, a direct connection could be established between ACCIONA’s proposed Aldoga Solar Farm and the hydrogen facility proposed by the Stanwell-led consortium.
“A direct connection would see Queensland’s largest solar project providing clean and renewable energy to Queensland’s largest renewable hydrogen project,” Miles added.
CQ-H2 is to be delivered by a consortium of Australian and international partners including Japanese companies Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kansai Electric Power Company and Marubeni, and Australian energy infrastructure business APA Group.
Rafaella Resources signs MOU to explore supply of green energy
Rafaella Resources (ASX:RFR) has executed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Capital Energy Read s.l.u, a Spanish developer of renewable energy projects, to explore the supply of green energy (electricity sourced from renewables) to the Santa Comba tungsten and tin project as well as other future Spanish projects.
The company has the right to co-invest in any project with Capital Energy up to 49% if appropriate as a means of providing a cost-effective long-term energy solution.
As an initial step with, GTT, the Spanish subsidiary of Rafaella that owns 100% of the Santa Comba tungsten and tin project, the companies have agreed on an electricity supply agreement with Capital Energy covering its current site requirements.
RFR says the MOU reinforces its objective of targeting a zero-carbon mine development, highlighting that the Santa Comba tenement area already hosts wind turbines that co-exist with current operations and is surrounded by eucalyptus plantations, a future source for biodiesel.
The company has also adopted an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework with 21 core metrics and disclosures created by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which it says will work to minimise its environmental footprint.