Energy

An Aboriginal organisation has become the first business in the Pilbara to go completely off-grid, finalising a deal to be reliant on solar power and batteries announced mid last-year.

Vanadium and uranium explorer Yellow Rock Resources has formed a new subsidiary with an unnamed local solar system installer to sell vanadium-based batteries in Australia.

Energy giant Woodside Petroleum is considering growth opportunities in Papua New Guinea, announcing today it was evaluating a takeover offer for Oil Search through an all-scrip deal valued at more than $11 billion.

The proposed developer of a 10-megawatt solar power station in South Fremantle has withdrawn from the project, citing issues with the market and the development site, which previously housed landfill.

Two former BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto engineers from the Wheatbelt officially launched a wave energy prototype in the Swan River today as part of a long-term plan to produce electricity at costs so low it will rival wind energy.

Power generation company Pacific Energy has posted a 19 per cent fall in net profit for the 2015 financial year, but was upbeat on its outlook for the year ahead.

Marine services business MMA Offshore is predicting a tough year ahead after posting a net loss of $51.3 million for the 2015 financial year, on the back of a $125 million impairment flagged last month.

In some of the state’s more remote towns, where electricity can be 700 per cent more expensive to deliver than in Perth, embracing cheaper new technology is only part of the solution to driving down costs.

Monadelphous Group and Tempo Australia have won more work on the Chevron-operated Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island.

Western Power has reported a substantial reduction in operating expenditure for the third year in succession, and says it is on target to deliver $1.4 billion in savings across its current five-year access arrangement.

A report by the auditor general has found the state government’s Pilbara Underground Power Project will cost nearly double the original estimate and be completed six years behind schedule because of poor planning and management.

Big energy companies are fairly well prepared for the next wave of LNG projects coming into production, according to industry executive Keith Spence, but they need to stay focused on training to ensure a good supply of skilled workers is on tap.

WorleyParsons has sold subsidiary company Exmouth Power Station to Canadian asset management company Fengate Capital Management in a $19.6 million deal.

Carnegie Wave Energy's international growth has been boosted after the Scottish government awarded the Perth-based company a $4.3 million grant to develop a wave energy power conversion system.

Sirius Resources has announced that it has nominated Belmont-based Zenith Pacific as its preferred tenderer to build, own, operate and maintain a combined diesel-solar power station at Sirius’ Nova nickel project in Fraser Range.

Buru Energy has announced the termination of its gas sales agreement with Alcoa of Australia.

Investment uncertainty in the renewable energy sector hasn’t dampened demand, according to a local clean energy business, which is self-funding major growth plans it says are viable in the current market.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten believes his ambitious renewable energy target will give voters a "clear choice" at the next federal election.

The market appetite for backdoor listings of tech stocks continues unabated, with Magnolia Resources securing $7 million in funding commitments and Potash Minerals becoming the fifth exploration company from Western Australia to head down the tech path this month.

Energy utility owner Duet Group is set to become a bigger player in the WA market, after announcing an agreed $1.4 billion takeover of remote power producer Energy Developments.

A Perth-based clean energy company has been awarded another major contract with a deal to build a major solar power station that will power part of the world’s largest telescope.

Gas and energy giant Woodside Petroleum's revenue has been cut by 36 per cent as a result of sliding LNG prices.

As many as 20 Western Australian mining companies are considering adopting solar power, according to the developer of a $40 million solar project at Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa copper mine.

An international consortium comprising European renewable energy companies, Australian government agencies, and local contractor Otoc has come together to finance and develop a $40 million solar power project at Sandfire Resources' DeGrussa copper mine.

A local waste technology solutions company backed by Monadelphous Group has completed the biological ramp-up phase of commissioning its waste-to-energy plant in Shenton Park, nearly eight months behind schedule.

Several local councils are hoping the state’s assets privatisation program will give them control over one of their most significant expenses – the cost of operating street lights.

ATCO Australia has announced the appointment of Bobbi Lambright as its new managing director and chief operating officer, replacing Wayne Stensby in the Perth-based role overseeing a major energy utility and mobile accommodation builder.

Energy giant Woodside Petroleum has awarded a front-end engineering and design contract to a consortium comprising two NYSE-listed companies, for its proposed Browse FLNG project.

AGL Energy will make more than $600 million worth of writedowns on its upstream gas ventures and sell underperforming businesses as it battles uncertainty surrounding oil and gas prices.

France’s Technip and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries have been signed up as the lead engineering and construction contractors for the Browse floating LNG project, continuing similar work they have undertaken for the Prelude FLNG project.

Coogee Chemicals has started the new financial year with a freshly installed executive chairman in Tim Martin, and a new managing director in Grant Lukey.

One out of every five Australian households now has solar energy installed, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.