Latest news with #AustralianRenewableEnergyAgency
AU Financial Review
23-07-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Taxpayers back AustralianSuper's pet green iron project
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has granted $44.9 million toward a green iron project run by ASX-listed Calix Limited, in addition to the $1 billion the Albanese government plans to spend on cutting the carbon footprint of the nation's most lucrative export industry. The grant will provide Calix, which is 17 per cent owned by AustralianSuper, with half of the $90 million required to build a renewables-powered kiln that would make 'green iron' by removing the oxygen and waste elements in iron ore.
The Age
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Age
‘Game changer': Your electric vehicle can now power your home and the grid
Federal Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen says the government sees plenty of potential in EVs and setting up the grid so the vehicles can be used like 'household batteries on wheels'. 'Our government wants to make sure that Australians can take back control of their energy bills,' Bowen says. 'Whether that's through installing a cheaper home battery, or purchasing a V2G EV, Aussie households are increasingly looking to renewable options that work for them to slash their power bills.' A battery for a modern electric vehicle enabled for V2G charging is 50 to 100 kWh, while a plug-in hybrid battery starts from 20 kWh. A typical home battery is six to 10 kWh, meaning the battery in a typical EV is much more powerful than one on the side of a house. Clarke bought his Nissan Leaf in April 2023 after researching home batteries and realising that the cost per kilowatt hour of storage was significantly lower in a car. 'I got a 60 kWh battery for $60,000, while a Tesla Powerwall costs $15,000 for 13 kWh,' he says. The possibilities are enormous. When EVs become batteries on wheels, a city full of solar on rooftops and EVs in driveways becomes a distributed power plant, making it more possible to switch off the ageing coal-fired power fleet. By the early 2030s, the combined battery capacity of all EVs in Australia is likely to surpass all other forms of storage in the national energy market, including Snowy 2.0, according to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's national road map for bidirectional EV charging. By 2050, the storage in the national EV fleet is likely to be three times higher than the total storage capacity in the national energy market. Yet, the road map notes, the capital cost of enabling vehicle-to-grid technology is a fraction of the cost to build large-scale storage. Loading Electric Vehicle Council analysis suggests EVs with V2G technology could bring down costs for everyone by reducing the need for the highest-price electricity generation and reducing the need for network augmentation to cope with the handful of days a year when the system operates at maximum capacity. The lobby group wants the government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program, a subsidy that started on Tuesday, to extend to the V2G charging infrastructure for EVs. V2G charging requires three things. First, the vehicle needs to be capable and have it enabled. In some models, the capability is switched off or using it would void the warranty. Dr Alina Dini, head of energy and infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council, says three V2G-ready cars imported into Australia are the Nissan Leaf, the Mitsubishi Outlander and Cupra, while there is also the Ford F-150 Lightning made compatible with Australian V2G standards by after-market modifications by AUSEV. Second, the charger needs to be approved by the Clean Energy Council. Finally, the network needs to allow it and the retailer to offer pricing to support it. Things are moving rapidly. Ausgrid, the electricity distributor for much of Sydney, flagged on Tuesday it had successfully plugged a vehicle-to-grid system into its network, enabling a two-way flow of energy that effectively turns EVs into batteries on wheels. Loading Ausgrid's head of EVs, Nick Black, says some retailers have been early adopters involved in testing how it would work, so there are already offers in the market. Black says the technology will be a game changer for the grid, eventually. 'We just need that EV adoption in place,' Black says. 'There's still a low penetration of EVs, and we see that due to a lack of highly available public charging infrastructure.' The company is lobbying the NSW government to change the rules to allow it to directly own and maintain public EV chargers on its power poles, a proposal fiercely resisted by standalone EV-charging companies. Essential Energy, which covers 95 per cent of NSW, said V2G charging for AUSEV's Ford F-150 Lightning was market-ready at the Smart Energy Conference in April, after a long period testing the Nissan Leaf. The power distributor and CSIRO are investigating V2G technology with other car manufacturers. Endeavour Energy, the third NSW network, has also been trialling V2G technology and said it would allow any charger approved by the Clean Energy Council. In Victoria, the company that covers Melbourne and much of regional Victoria through ownership of Powercor, CitiPower and United Energy has been running a trial of V2G charging and is preparing to roll it out more widely. Daniel Bye, Powercor head of customer connections and requests, says the company would treat vehicle-to-grid chargers the same as any other battery connected to the network, and any charger approved by the Clean Energy Council would automatically be approved. 'We're really excited by the possibilities V2X technology offers our customers and the community,' Bye says. (The V2X term includes vehicle to grid, vehicle to home, and vehicle to load – the final one being when you can plug in appliances such as power tools or camping fridges directly into the battery.) Loading In financial modelling by the Electric Vehicle Council, a customer in western Sydney who has an electricity plan with exposure to the wholesale price of electricity (such as Amber Electric) could earn $1000 a year by charging an EV when the cost of electricity is low and discharging to the grid between 6pm and 10pm every day. A customer with a power plan with time-of-use tariffs (such as OVO Energy) could save $500 a year by charging the EV battery when the electricity is free during the day and using it to power their appliances when the price goes up in the evening. 'It's an opportunity for something that sits statically in a driveway or a car park to be a way to help consumers not only save money but potentially even earn from it,' says Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio. 'It transfoms what an electric vehicle is, from just a car to a method to support the grid, which I think is really significant.' The Clarkes already had a 10 kWh solar system, but the power bills were still about $3000 a year before they moved to Amber Electric, and the petrol for the car was $3000 a year. A year later, Francis Clarke has a credit of $400 on his electricity bill, after powering both his house and car, despite having driven 26,000 kilometres. As well as the financial rewards, Clarke is interested in the environmental benefits. 'I'm naturally interested in saving carbon whenever I can, and I think I've done the right thing in my farming and forestry businesses, too, with all the trees I've planted,' Clarke says. 'I've been aware of that for a long time, and it's nice now that I can have a car and run it virtually carbon-free. Saving money is a good thing, but knowing you're doing the right thing by the environment is also a good thing.'
West Australian
04-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Mining giant looks to limit emissions by electrifying refining process
A South West mining giant is looking to limit emissions by electrifying its heavily polluting refining process with help from a $4.4 million grant. South 32 received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in order to support the development of steam electrification pathways at the Worsley Alumina Refinery in the South West. The alumina refining industry is the country's biggest user of industrial process heat, collectively responsible for about 15 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2021 — 3 per cent of Australia's total green house gas emissions that year. Currently, close to 70 per cent of these emissions are produced from steam production in the alumina refining process, fuelled by fossil fuel sources such as coal and gas. With the sector identified as a hard-to-abate polluter finding a method to reduce emissions is needed. The identified options to reduce these emissions include electric boilers, which generate steam directly using an electrode, and mechanical vapour recompression, which involves capturing low-pressure waste vapour from the refining process for recompression to create pressurised steam for reuse. Paired with renewable energy these technologies have the potential to reduce the significant contribution to overall emissions alumina production entails. ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the study was a significant step towards making low emissions alumina and decarbonising Australian metals production. 'Meeting Australia's emissions reduction targets will require businesses in the most energy intensive industries to incorporate renewables in their operations,' he said. 'Funding from ARENA will help South32 investigate innovative electrification options for steam generation that enable the use of renewable energy.' South32 chief operating officer Vanessa Torres said the company had a long-term goal to achieve net zero emissions across all scopes by 2050 alongside the Federal Government's target and to halve overall emissions from the company by 2035 from their 2021 baseline. 'Decarbonising our operations is key to achieving our goals and targets,' she said. 'The pre-feasibility study that we will undertake at Worsley Alumina, with funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, builds on the work already under way to reduce Worsley Alumina's greenhouse gas emission. 'Electrification of the steam generation process at Worsley Alumina's refinery has the potential to further reduce the operation's green house gas emissions and we look forward to starting work on the project. We welcome the support from ARENA and look forward to the outcomes of the study.'
West Australian
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Under the skin of Hyundai's XCIENT fuel cell truck
Up front, it's best to underline this: Hyundai's XCIENT fuel cell truck is an electric truck. It's not driven by hydrogen but by electricity from a large on-board battery. The hydrogen is the fuel that runs the on-board battery charging. The concept of hydrogen fuel cell cars and trucks is to add an emissions-free range-extender to a battery electric driveline. Hyundai's truck is on display at the Brisbane Truck Show, and Hyundai locally is in discussions with operators in NSW, Victoria and WA to sell or lease limited numbers of the trucks into daily operations on evaluation. Hyundai's boss of future mobility and government relations, Scott Nargar, told us that some of the operators they were speaking to were keen to own the trucks in conjunction with recognition and assistance from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, which exists to support industry moves towards low emissions solutions based on renewables. The trucks will likely be a combination of prime movers and rigids but will all feature the same spec driveline. Six hydrogen tanks each with a 31kg capacity will supply two 90kW fuel cell stacks that in turn will charge a 72kWh battery. The electric motor develops 350kW (470hp) and a thumping 2237Nm of torque, delivering that urge to the drive wheels through an Allison 4500R transmission. Based on European market testing the expected range, including regenerative braking is quoted as 'up to 400km', which would comfortably out-distance similar all-electric heavy-duty trucks now in use in WA fleets. Refuelling, with a 350bar H2 station is claimed to be between 8-20 minutes. XCIENT FC is purely hydrogen fuelled – there is no system to top-up the battery from a charging point. As long as the battery needs charging and there is hydrogen in the tanks, the fuel cell will bubble away even when the truck is parked up. The company is presently finishing off certification and homologation issues and will be sourcing the trucks through its New Zealand operation. That's because the Korean factory only builds the trucks in left-hand drive but converted test units have been running with the Kiwis since 2023. Hence XCIENTs for Australia will dog-leg across the Tasman. No details yet but I'm aware that Hyundai Australia is seeking local conversion opportunities until enough volume can be generated to justify some RHD production from the factory. Hyundai has been trialling this truck in 13 countries including NZ since 2021 with about 13 million kilometres in Switzerland alone. The data accumulated suggests some significant operational and logistical advantages over purely electric drivelines, however the issue of an hydrogen infrastructure looms large. Here in WA, Woodside has started a project with WA Government support to establish an hydrogen production and refuelling facility - Hydrogen Refueller @H2Perth - in the Rockingham industrial zone. Distributing the fuel to stations elsewhere in Perth, particularly the Kewdale transport hub would seem to be a necessity. Elsewhere, Hyundai is expanding the trial in California, where 30 hydrogen fuel cell trucks working in the ports of Oakland and Richmond to haul freight containers and vehicles will shortly be integrated into trials of fully autonomous operations.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal agency directed to consider home solar funding
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has written to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to accelerate solar electrification projects and save households more cash. Mr Bowen has used ministerial powers to direct the board to consider funding solar panels and home batteries following a deal struck with crossbenchers in exchange for support on Labor's Future Made in Australia legislation. The agency has to look at funding a project in every state and territory, including at least one in an Indigenous community and one in a low socio-economic area. They would be modelled off the North Wollongong community electrification testbed funded by the renewable energy agency in 2024. Projects will still be subject to a final independent assessment by the agency's board. It will allow chosen suburbs to act as test beds for the regulatory changes needed to scale up renewable energy use and scope out how government support can help achieve electrification, independent senator David Pocock said. "In this cost-of-living crisis one of the highest impact, non-inflationary things governments can do is to help households electrify and deliver thousands in permanent power bill relief," Senator Pocock said. The Future Made in Australia legislation, which leverages billions of dollars to invest in renewable energy and critical resources needed for such technology, missed an opportunity to support household electrification, Senator Pocock said. "This agreement helps remedy that gap," he said. The renewable energy agency has helped fund more than 660 projects to the tune of $2.25 billion, ranging from early-stage research and prototyping to later-stage developments. The minister wrote to the agency in late 2024 but only revealed the direction on Tuesday.
