The wildly ambitious SunCable renewable energy project, which plans to build Australia biggest solar farm in the Northern Territory, has been approved by the federal government. Officially known as the SunCable Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink), the 12,000 hectare solar farm – that’s 3000x the MCG precinct – will be built on a pastoral station between Elliot… Read more »
Electric vehicles are an increasingly common sight on Australian roads. Each one cuts carbon emissions by half compared to fossil fuel vehicles, but increases household electricity use by 50%. This extra electricity demand could be a major strain on the grid unless the charging of vehicles is coordinated. But the large batteries in electric vehicles… Read more »
Homeowners and businesses will be offered up to $2400 by the NSW government to install a battery to store solar under a new incentive program kicking off later this year The new incentive is part of the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme and includes: Between $1600 and $2400 off the up-front installation cost of a household… Read more »
Design giant Canva has partnered with US sustainability and carbon reduction platform Watershed to cut the impact of its energy use with renewables. The deal, announced at the annual Canva Create conference, being held in the US for the first time, will tackle what are known as scope 3 emissions. They can cause up to… Read more »
Brisbane solar battery startup Redback Technologies is out of voluntary administration after two months with new owners in charge. Fintech Australia Ebon has put an initial $500,000 into the business after creditors approved a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) earlier this month to allow Redback, founded in 2015, to trade its way back to profitability,… Read more »
Clean energy startup MGA Thermal, has raised an additional $5.7 million to develop its thermal energy storage (TES) system. This round was backed by existing investors including Main Sequence and Melt Ventures with specialist clean tech investor JEKARA joining the cap table. The new capital tops up an $8 million in September last year. MGA Thermal has… Read more »
Green energy infrastructure startup National Renewable Network (NRN) has secured $10 million in funding as part of its ambition to provide low cost solar and battery setups to 250,000 Australian homes by 2030. The funding facility of up to $10 million has come from Catalytic Impact Capital, an impact/ESG-focused private credit business offering secured loan… Read more »
The $30 billion SunCable project, backed by Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brooks, wants to build the high voltage under power cable that will stretch from Darwin to Singapore at a manufacturing facility in Northern Tasmania. Bell Bay, 50km north of Launceston, at the mouth of the Tamar River, has been named as SunCable’s preferred site for… Read more »
Atlassian cofounder and billionaire investor Mike Cannon-Brookes has taken charge of the $30 billion SunCable solar power project he once labelled as “insane”, with the deal to buy it from the company’s administrators going through last week. Helietta Holdings a joint venture company affiliated with his family venture capital firm, Grok Ventures, in partnership with… Read more »
The annual ARENA Renewables Startup Showcase is heading to Melbourne this year, with applications now open for startups interested in taking part. Pioneering startup network Innovation Bay and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have teamed up again for the fourth showcase, which takes place on Wednesday, November 1, at Cargo Hall in Melbourne. They’re looking for early… Read more »
Australia’s transition to renewables is gathering speed, but there’s a looming problem with storage. We will need much more long-duration storage to get us through the night, once coal and fossil gas exit the system. We also need to find new and better ways to create heat for industrial processes. Renewables can supply much of… Read more »
Sun Cable – considered to be the world’s biggest renewable energy export project – announced this week it had entered voluntary administration following “the absence of alignment” with shareholders. Sun Cable is expected to cost over A$30 billion. It proposes to build an enormous, 12,000 hectare solar farm in the Northern Territory, add an enormous… Read more »
Australian-born US-based solar panel design and sales platform OpenSolar has raised US$15 million (A$22m) in a Series B. Telstra Ventures led the round, announced last month, with support from sustainability fund 2150 and existing investors including Jeff Tannenbaum’s Titan Grove and solar entrepreneurs Alec Guettel and Howard Wenger. The funds will be used to expand… Read more »
A $30 billion project to send solar-generated power made in Australia to Singapore has been placed in voluntary administration (VA) amid a reported falling out between its key backers, the tech and mining billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Dr Andrew Forrest. Cannon-Brookes and Forrest are cornerstone investors in Singapore-based Sun Cable – the Atlassian co-founder through his private… Read more »
The venture capital arm of energy giant BP has tipped $20 million into Sydney solar array startup 5B, to close out its $55 million Series B. The additional funds from bp ventures end a 15-month capital campaign that saw the first $30 million secured in June, with the round being led by existing backers… Read more »
Australia suddenly leads the world with new loot box and gambling laws. Here’s what that means 
Antler Investor Memo Series: Balo is creating a 24/7 help desk for enterprise software users 
Australians won’t get Apple Watch sleep apnoea alerts because they’ve not yet had the nod from regulators 
Cannon-Brookes-backed millennial super fund Spaceship snapped up by eToro in $80 million merger 
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