Policy

A market reform more than four years in the making is set to be introduced in less than 30 days with the Australian Energy Market Operator this week confirming the five-minute settlement period will come into effect on October 1, 2021.

With 370 of its most beloved athletes lambasting the country’s climate inaction on the same day its coal-loving base was revealed to be little more than a mirage, the Morrison government must front up to both its own people and global peers as elections and summits loom.

The Victorian government has launched its second Victorian Renewable Energy Target auction, aiming to attract “at least” 600 MW of new renewable energy capacity to the state.

Australia’s solar uptake is now forecast to reach 8.9 GW by 2025, on top of the 14 GW already installed, according to the Australian Electricity Market Operator.

Debate on independent MP Dr Helen Haines’ Australian Local Power Agency Bill 2021, which seeks to anchor the benefits of renewables projects in their hosting regions, will be informed by Friday’s parliamentary committee hearing of submissions on the proposed legislation. A number of valid discussion points have been raised.

Lithium-ion batteries remain the front-runner to power EVs, but without clearer recycling plans from the European Union and the United States, the balance isn’t yet tipped away from heavy mining of new materials to focus on supplying industry needs, writes Ian Morse.

The Energy Security Board’s newly revealed market reforms have sparked widespread scrutiny with the Clean Energy Council declaring that among the recommendations are proposals that risk further undermining confidence in future investments in clean energy generation.

A parliamentary inquiry has been told Australia’s ageing transmission network “urgently” needs upgrading to deliver new solar PV and wind power to cities as the nation’s transition to renewable energy generation continues to accelerate.

The Energy Security Board’s market reforms have come under fresh scrutiny after ministers met last week under a veil of secrecy, apparently stirring deep rifts between federal and state ministers and other stakeholders. While it remains unclear what the Board’s proposed capacity market, dubbed by some as ‘coal-keeper’, might look like, Dan Cass, who leads energy policy at the Australia Institute, told pv magazine Australia as long as Angus Taylor isn’t steering, he’s optimistic that state governments and the ESB could work towards a reasonable outcome.

The risks posed to renewable-energy projects by Australia’s uncertain climate change policies and hamstrung regulators, have become a concerning brake on investment. Adjusting settings to reduce those risks would revitalise investor sentiment and vastly reduce the cost of implementing the country’s switch to renewables, says the Clean Energy Investor Group.