Markets & Policy

The Greens party says it will now begin “formal negotiations” with the Labor government on its climate bill, raising concerns about what it deems an inadequate 43% emissions reduction target and allowance for new coal and gas projects.

Concerns Australia’s skills shortage will impact the new federal government’s hallmark $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program, as well as the clean energy transition more generally, have been raised at the Australian Clean Energy Summit in Sydney.

Octopus Investments Australia, a subsidiary of the major global Octopus Group, today launched two renewable energy investment vehicles totalling $10 billion. The Octopus funds’ first joint acquisition is Australia’s largest operational solar farm, the 333 MW Darlington Point Solar Farm in New South Wales.

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm expects the company to double its EV sales in Australia by the year’s end, hoping to see its flagship product catch up to its Powerwall sales. Denholm also said Australia needs to expand its lithium refining and processing capacity at “sprinting pace” to properly capture the global battery opportunity.

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has vowed to “turbo-charge renewables”, promising at least one million additional Victorian homes would have solar PV and battery energy storage systems installed by 2035 if the Coalition is voted in at the November state election.

The nation may miss its 2030 target of 500 GW renewables capacity by over 104 GW under the current market trend.

Project Symphony provides a glimpse into Western Australia’s energy future, argues the project’s communications lead, Megan Allan. With a large, islanded network featuring high levels of rooftop PV penetration, the pilot on Western Australia’s grid is aggregating residential PV into a virtual power plant (VPP) to participate in a simulated bidirectional wholesale electricity market.

The Australian arm of global renewable energy developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has pointed to the refinancing of its 100 MW Lilyvale Solar Farm in Queensland as a sign of renewed investor confidence in the nation’s renewables sector.

South Australia is closing fast on its target to be powered by 100% net renewables by the end of the decade with new data revealing a combination of wind and solar energy provided a daily average of almost 70% of the state’s electricity needs last financial year.

The average global price of solar kilowatt-hours fell 13% on 2020’s prices, as around two-thirds of the renewables capacity installed last year was cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative.