Markets & Policy

With miners around globe stepping up their production capacities to cater to the demand of the electro-mobility and energy storage sectors, supply has outpaced demand leading to a steep decline in lithium prices. Amid slowing growth in China, a number of Australian lithium miners are hurting.

The Australia Institute’s ‘National Energy Emissions Audit Electricity Update’ for July shows solar and wind generation is growing fastest in New South Wales, closely followed by Victoria; and it offers an historical twist on the country’s energy transition.

South Australia’s virtual power plant is nearing the potential Phase 3, which could see 50,000 homes connected becoming the equivalent of a 250 MW network of decentralized power generating units.

As it transitions from a wind-dominated renewable energy mix to include a wider range of energy options such as large-scale PV, pumped hydro and battery storage projects, South Australia is considering new planning policies.

The Independent Planning Commission has approved a $94 million solar project near Gunnedah in New South Wales, under some added conditions.

According to the latest market forecast published by Wood Mackenzie, it seems that global PV installation figures will rise to 125 GW per year from 2020. Continued global capacity expansion will come in through a growing gigawatts-club.

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) released its 2018 Administrative Report on Thursday, and not only does it predict that Australia will easily meet its 2020 Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (RET), but that the target will be exceeded substantially. Moreover, in the last year commercial factors overtook government incentives as the main driver of renewable investment – a watershed moment and one in which commercial and industrial solar arrays is playing no small role.  

The South Australian government is looking to extend its Home Battery Scheme subsidy of up to $6000 and low interest loans to rental properties, property developers and aged care facilities.

The Smart Energy Council and Solar Cutters assembled a group of installers to send the message that the Solar Homes rebate scheme is damaging the Victorian solar sector today. The rally was also supported by the Clean Energy Council (CEC), which has called for the Solar Homes rebate to be reduced, and the monthly installation cap ended.

Study claims that investment in a new 1GW nuclear power plant leads to average losses of approximately 4.8 billion euros. It further argues that the technology’s dangerous radioactivity emissions and proliferation risks do not qualify it as a ‘clean’ energy solution to be considered for addressing climate change. Yet still, governments are incorporating the technology into clean energy plans around the world.