Policy

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has called for more renewable investment and Federal government backing to help create and support more jobs in more industries, but gas is not out of the picture.

As Australia continues to battle horrific bushfires, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a renewed focus on gas-fired electricity to reduce emissions and lower energy prices. This is a dangerous and completely unnecessary route.

An energy deal struck between the Morrison and Berejiklian governments that will see more than $2 billion invested to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector has prompted a flurry of reactions that boil down to two conflicting interpretations of its purpose.

In yet another confirmation of a dramatic drop in spending on large-scale renewables in Australia, a new analysis by the Clean Energy Council reveals a fall from 51 projects worth $10.7 billion in 2018 down to 28 projects worth $4.5 billion in 2019. Mounting regulatory risks, under-investment in transmission and policy uncertainty are the main reasons behind investment slow-down, which is set to put greater pressure on reliability and power prices as Australia’s old coal-fired power stations continue to close.

The SA Government’s standout Home Battery Scheme is now open to new home buyers and new builds. The expanded Scheme is already off to a flying start with the Stoddart Group promising to install 10,000 solar and battery systems over the next four years to create one of the world’s largest VPPs.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is in desperate need of a short-term funding extension as its funds to allocate to new projects is set to dry up by mid-2020. The Australia Institute has published a discussion paper urging the Morrison Government to legislate.

The breadth and depth of detail in the GSD2019 (to be released today) reveals any number of important insights into the supply side of the NEM. One theme that stood out for me as I reviewed the data was the set of challenges facing the NEM’s most recent crop of new entrant generators – utility-scale solar farms – as they come to grips with the messy reality of the electricity market.

Peter Gutwein is the new Premier of Tasmania and the first Tasmanian Liberal Minister for Climate Change. The Premier, who has a history of rebelliousness to the party line, seeks to lead Tasmania to a renewable energy future.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has confirmed that Australia is on its way to hit nearly 50% renewables share by 2030, the target deemed economically suicidal by the Coalition during the last election. With no mention of the widely-reported massive drop in renewable energy investment, Taylor hailed 2019 as a new record year for renewables in Australia.

Australian and Japanese trade ministers met in Melbourne last week to sign a joint statement of cooperation. The agreement and collaboration between the two nations hopes to affirm Australia’s potential as a major exporter of hydrogen, with Japan as a key recipient.