Policy

Last week, the chimney from one of the last coal fired power plants in South Australia was felled. The demolition, captured in the footage below, came only days after Jay Weatherill attended the opening of the state’s first utility scale solar array in the region.

The territory government announced on Friday that it has paid more than $3 million in grants to six companies. The money will support the roll out of storage installations in homes and businesses across the capital territory, in the form of rebates for customers buying energy storage systems.

AEMO has revealed that soaring rooftop solar in Western Australia is presenting state-owned gentailer Synergy with a quandary, as PV meets expanding volumes of daytime electricity demand while economic hardship is causing record numbers of non-PV households to have their electricity cut off.

A recent article in Bloomberg View illustrates clearly the mythology and misinformation that abounds regarding renewable energy, which in many cases is spread by the media.

Fast increasing power prices in Western Australia are set to feed the already “buoyant” residential PV sector, leading suppliers are reporting. The WA government is winding back electricity subsidies in an attempt to repair the state’s budget.

Australians continue to see fostering solar PV, wind and other renewables as the leading environmental issue. And that a national renewable energy target is the best policy mechanism to do it.

Looking back on an unprecedented year for Australia’s renewables sector, when it was never far from mainstream headlines, 2017 may very well be the watershed year for the industry. And it is the states, rather than the federal government, which have taken the lead.

Reports say an unreleased memo circulating within the White House lays out arguments for the strongest of trade sanctions against Chinese solar module makers in what is likely a bad sign for U.S. solar markets.

The Victorian Renewable Energy Auction Scheme (VREAS) makes community engagement an eligibility and evaluation criteria for funding, with a benefit-sharing program a first in State Government regulation of renewable energy projects.

The Australian Greens are continuing their advocacy for a RET extension and expansion beyond 2020, on the back of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) finding that renewables are driving down electricity prices. In its latest report on electricity prices, AEMC has found that much of 2017’s 11% residential price increases will be “reversed” as around 4 GW of renewables come online – driven by the RET.