Archived News for Energy Sector Professionals

La Trobe University has entered a joint R&D agreement with Indian electric vehicle manufacturer Mahindra Reva, one of the first companies to introduce electric vehicles.

Under the agreement, an advanced energy management system will be developed and trialled by Mahindra Reva at its new electric vehicle plant in Bangalore.

The plant’s power supply includes solar panels with a back-up diesel generator, which the company would eventually like to replace by ‘harvesting’ energy from hundreds of company and employees cars in their car park. 

The project is based on technology developed by La Trobe’s Centre for Technology Infusion and trialled in buildings on the Melbourne campus since 2008.

The La Trobe system is already used for domestic applications following its successful installation by the University, CSIRO and commercial builders in Australia’s first Zero Emission House last year.

Among other features, it enables electric vehicles to be plugged into the home grid, drawing down car battery power, for example during the evening peak, and then, overnight when power is cheaper, recharging the car’s battery for the morning.

Origin Energy Limited has announced a Statutory Profit of $794 million for the half year ended 31 December 2011, an increase of $930 million when compared with the $136 million loss reported in the prior corresponding half year.

AGL Energy Limited has entered into conditional agreements to increase its ownership interest in Victoria's biggest power plant, the Loy Yang A power station, and the adjacent coal mine, from 32.54 per cent to 100 per cent for a total cost of $448 million.  The deal values GEAC at $3.1 billion, including its debt of $2.1 billion.

The transaction will proceed by way of acquisition of the remaining shares in, and loan notes issued by, Great Energy Alliance Corporation Pty Limited (GEAC). GEAC is the owner of the 2,200MW Loy Yang A power station and a brown coal mine which supplies all the coal required to meet the current and future operating requirements of the power station.

The transaction is expected to complete in mid-2012 and is conditional on:

A survey of 400 Perth metropolitan homes has found that many Perth houses are not energy efficient and building regulations don't encourage home builders to change.

A $5 million biofuel project has been launched as part of the Australian Biofuels Research Institute (ABRI), to which the Federal Government has committed $20 million.

The Productivity Commission has released an issues paper for its inquiry into electricity network regulation.

Daintree Networks has received a $250,000 grant from the Victorian Government to further develop a technology that could reduce the amount of electricity used on lighting in businesses by as much as 80 per cent.

A three-year research collaboration between Swinburne University of Technology, Jaypee University of Information Technology (JUIT) in India and the Melbourne-based Co-operative Research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology (AutoCRC) will consider the social and technological barriers and challenges to consumer uptake of alternative energy transport in India.

The Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator (OTTER) has released its biannual Comparison of 2012 Australian Standing Offer Energy Prices Report which provides an overview of regulated and standing offer tariffs for gas and electricity around the country taking into account the Tasmanian regulated electricity tariffs
from 1 July 2011 and recent increases in other states and territories.

The Federal Government has launched two new programs with funding of  $1 billion for manufacturers to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution.

Consultancy giant Coffey has announced the appointments of Leeane Bond and Guy Cowan as the company’s new Non-executive Directors, taking effect from 27 February. The announcement comes as Charles Jamieson and Stephen Williams plan to step down from their positions.

OriginaEnergy has announced the completion of its $85m Inlet Compression Project at the Otway Gas Plant near Port Campbell in Victoria.

The South Australian Government has released a discussion paper on the recommendations developed by the Resources & Energy Sector Infrastructure Council (RESIC) to promote growth of the South Australian minerals and energy sector.

Queensland has become the first state to sign up to the newly strengthened regulatory framework for coal seam gas and large coal mining developments.

AGL Energy Limited is reviewing  its future investment in the Loy Yang A power station and adjacent coal resource. AGL currently owns 32.54% of Great Energy Alliance Corporation Pty Limited (GEAC), owner of the Loy Yang A power station and more than 1.6 billion tonnes of coal resource.

Roofing materials that double as solar panels and can also moderate the temperature of buildings are among the next-generation building products being developed at UNSW.

The Queensland Government has released its Queensland Renewable Energy Plan (QREP) 2012, following a  review of the original plan first launched in 2009.

Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said the plan positions Queensland to leverage up to $8.9 billion in renewable energy investment and deliver 9000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy generation by 2020.

“It will help deliver on our original QREP goals to create up to 3500 new green jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 million tonnes.

“The plan also establishes Queensland’s case as a major competitor for new renewable energy investment, projects and industry growth in Australia.

“For example, the Australian Government's Clean Energy Future Plan includes more than $10 billion in new clean energy funding and targets up to $100 billion in private investment by 2050.

“Substantial opportunities will emerge for Queensland from this national plan. With a strong ongoing program of initiatives and new focus on collaboration and capacity building, QREP 2012 aims to position Queensland as a primary beneficiary.”

Mr Robertson said the state had achieved significant renewable energy success through the original QREP 2009.

“We have increased Queensland’s renewable energy generation capacity 66 per cent from 745 megawatts in 2008 to more than 1235 megawatts today – that’s enough to power roughly 640,000 homes per year.

“We also smashed our 500 megawatt Virtual Solar Power Station target three years early.

“Queensland’s renewable energy industry has attracted around $2.7 billion in total public and private investment and supports more than 1800 jobs.”

Mr Robertson said the Queensland Renewable Energy Plan 2012 will build upon Queensland’s early success with small-scale solar achieved with the help of Bligh Government initiatives like the Solar Bonus Scheme and Solar Hot Water Rebate Scheme.

“QREP 2012 seeks to scale up these efforts and accelerate deployment of medium and large scale renewable energy generation projects,” he said.

“We are already co-funding the world’s largest solar integration project at the Kogan Creek power station and have been chosen by the Commonwealth to host the proposed 250 megawatt Solar Dawn solar thermal power project at Chinchilla.

“There are also exciting developments ahead to harness Queensland’s abundance of other renewable energy resources like wind, geothermal, solar thermal and bioenergy.”

QREP 2012 refocuses the Queensland Government’s renewable energy agenda under three key objectives:

Researchers from Swinburne University of Technology and Suntech Power Holdings have developed the world's most efficient broadband nanoplasmonic solar cells.

Using curbside, commercial and biowaste from its poultry industry, the City of Greater Bendigo is building a business case that could see the introduction of Australia’s first multiple stream waste to energy facility.

The Federal Government has awarded the HRL Dual Gas project a six-month extension to its $100 million dollar grant, following the failure of the project to meet conditions for the finance set in 2007.