Policy

In a bid to encourage competition, the Morrison Government has announced its formal application of the Consumer Data Right regime to the energy sector. It is a move supported by the Australian Energy Council and Energy Consumers Australia but how much power can the consumer expect in the Big Data revolution?

A new report from IDTechEx shows Australian cities to be on the money and with the citizen-care zeitgeist in transitioning city bus fleets to electric. Despite a slow start to quiet, zero tail-pipe emissions public transport, Australian bus manufacturers are set to take advantage of chassis and battery tech developed in China.

Representing virtually every major energy company in the country, the Australian Energy Council has called on the Coalition to set a target of net zero emissions by 2050. The call follows Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese capitating extension of an olive branch in his speech to the National Press Club this week.

Canberra’s first community solar farm, the Majura Valley Community Solar Farm, is a step closer to reality after Epho signed on to design and construct the farm. The solar farm is the development project of SolarShare, a group of local community investors.

The Northern Territory’s rollout of solar panel installation at 25 schools is picking up speed, and Victoria is looking to follow suit after announcing the application period open for its Greener Government School Buildings program following the success of a pilot program.

Anthony Albanese has proposed negotiations for a bipartisan agreement on an energy policy framework to create greater certainty for investment.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s announcement of the third tranche of projects to have fast-tracked assessments as part of the state’s effort to boost the economy in response to the impact of Covid-19 includes the program’s first large-scale solar farm, the 72MW(DC)/60MW(AC) Yanco Solar Farm.

The government’s task is to identify and develop a suite of energy technologies that can provide low-cost, low-emissions electricity system of the future, and the Clean Energy Council says that this can be achieved by leveraging Australia’s comparative advantage and the mature industry built around solar and wind. Technologies that extend the life of higher cost, fossil fuel generation should not be prioritized for investment, the CEC says, instead, the roadmap should focus on plenty of challenges to accelerate renewable energy investment.

The Minerals Council of Australia has released its long-awaited Climate Action Plan. The plan has been widely criticised for its empty posturing and at least one group of major investors are demanding the Council articulate some of its conspicuously vague plans.

AEMO’s NEM Operations Review of the 2019-2020 Summer finds that mitigation practices helped to prevent what might’ve been a much more difficult summer in terms of the electricity network. However, large-scale and rooftop solar both suffered at the hands of enormous smoke plumes and subsequent forecasting errors.