New legislation to enshrine Australia’s 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction targets into law has cleared the first hurdle with the Federal Government’s climate change bill passing through the parliament’s lower house.

Just days after Genex Power rejected a proposed $300 million takeover offer, claiming it undervalues the company, the developer’s 50 MW Kidston Solar Farm has once again been ranked Australia’s best performing large-scale PV asset.

After a decade of climate policy failure, Wednesday brought good news and slightly less good news for Australian action on climate change.

Malaysia’s largest electricity provider Tenaga Nasional Berhad has announced plans to fast track the closure of its coal-fired power plants to hasten the transition of its generation fleet from fossil fuels to renewable sources including large-scale solar PV and green hydrogen.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has declared skyrocketing power prices and unprecedented market disruptions have confirmed the “urgent” need for the nation to fast-track its transition from a coal-dominated system to renewables, including wind and solar PV backed by batteries and other energy storage technologies.

International mining giant BHP has pushed forward with its first large-scale off-grid renewable energy project, installing the first solar PV panels at a 10.7 MW solar farm that will help power the company’s estimated $1 billion Nickel West mining operation in regional Western Australia.

Network operator Transgrid has completed a $236 million upgrade to the Queensland-New South Wales Interconnector to facilitate the increased flow of electricity between the two states and reduce constraints on the New South Wales transmission network.

The Queensland government has exceeded its own expectations with 200,000 PV panels installed at more than 900 schools across the state as part of a $168 million solar installation program designed to help slash electricity costs and cut carbon emissions.

The introduction of the Federal Government’s climate change bill to parliament has been welcomed with business and industry groups predicting the legislation will unlock hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of export opportunities and investments in renewable energy, transmission and storage across Australia.

To hear Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committing Australia to a clean energy future is cause for enormous optimism for those of us in the renewable energy sector. Finally, after too many years of static, the signal is clear: Australia is open for renewable business. Investors can now move forward with confidence into what is one of the greatest economic opportunities for our country in generations.