OMNI Features｜Australia Initiates Solar Sunshot Project with $1 Billion Investment．BNEF: Global Wind Power Additions Reach Record High．Exxon and Jera Sign Agreement to Sell Low-Carbon Fuel "Ammonia" and Advocate for Tax Credits on Hydrogen Energy

｜Australia Initiates Solar Sunshot Project with $1 Billion Investment to Develop Domestic PV Manufacturing Supply Chain
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has welcomed $1 billion in new funding and announced the establishment of the Solar Sunshot program to grow solar PV manufacturing in Australia.

ARENA funded the Australian Photovoltaic Institute's (APVI) Silicon to Solar Report to investigate solar manufacturing capability and potential in Australia. The report outlined a credible pathway for a domestic supply chain that could result in benefits such as securing access to solar PV components as Australia significantly scales up deployment of solar PV, creating local jobs, attracting significant private investment and unlocking potential export opportunities.

The program will be delivered by ARENA, with development and design to be done in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

｜BNEF: Global Wind Power Additions Reach Record High－China's Goldwind Maintains Leading Position as Wind Turbine Supplier
Global wind capacity additions surged to a record high of 118GW in 2023, according to a new report by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF). BNEF's 2023 Global Wind Turbine Market Shares report finds that developers commissioned 36% more capacity worldwide than in 2022 after capacity additions skyrocketed in the world's largest market, China. Some 107 GW, or 90%, of global wind additions were on land while 11 GW was offshore.

China's Goldwind maintained its position as the world's leading wind turbine supplier. The company commissioned 16.4GW of projects last year, 95% of which were in its home market. The record new build in China also propelled Envision, another local player, to second place, adding 15.4 GW. Danish company Vestas ranked third, the only European manufacturer to make the top five, with 13.4GW. Windey finished fourth and Mingyang finished fifth in BNEF's ranking.

2023, China-based firms commissioned 1.7GW of wind projects in 20 markets overseas, including five EU member states, almost three times as many markets as in 2018. Goldwind had the largest foreign footprint of the Chinese players, with 748MW, followed closely by Envision with 561MW. According to BNEF, prices for Chinese-made wind turbines delivered outside mainland China are 20% lower than those of US and European companies.

With 7.6 GW, China was once again the largest market for new offshore wind capacity, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global total in 2023.

｜Exxon and Jera Sign Agreement to Sell Low-Carbon Fuel "Ammonia" and Advocate for Tax Credits on Hydrogen Energy

Exxon Mobil Corp. pressed the case for clean hydrogen produced from natural gas to receive US tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act after signing an accord to sell the low-carbon fuel to JERA Co., Japan's biggest power provider. JERA will consider buying 500,000 tons a year, or half the ammonia produced from Exxon’s proposed low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown, Texas, the companies said in a statement.

Hydrogen, which produces water and oxygen when burned, is seen as an essential way of decarbonizing heavy industrial processes that are difficult to electrify. The IRA grants subsidies to the fuel but recent guidance from the Biden administration suggests only "green" hydrogen, produced from the electrolysis of water, will qualify, not “blue” hydrogen produced from natural gas even if the emissions are captured.

The nonbinding agreement demonstrates "significant" demand for low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia, Dan Ammann, president of Exxon Low Carbon Solutions, said in an interview. But for the Baytown project to get up and running, the Biden administration needs to widen the IRA's tax credit to include hydrogen produced from natural gas, he said.

Exxon has stepped up its low-carbon efforts since the pandemic but will only build big projects — such as the one in Baytown — if the projects achieve financial returns of more than 10%, the company has said. Tax credits are key to making those returns and Exxon has said the Baytown project won't go ahead without them.

Reference: ARENA｜BloombergNEF/BNEF)｜Bloomberg