Policy

Soon 2020 will only be a worry to future high-school history students. But when they ask us if anything good at all happened in 2020, remember this review and tell them that solar PV shone in the darkness. Despite the mess of it all, 2020 has been another good year for Australian solar. The industry has demonstrated resilience, and significant progress has been made in the fields of energy storage, green hydrogen and others.

South Australia could generate five times more renewable energy than the state currently demands by 2050, positioning itself as a national and even international exporter of clean energy. The SA government today released its climate Action Plan, adding to the chorus of state announcements.

The Chinese leader has revealed some details of his nation’s commitment to go carbon neutral by 2060. That solar and wind power promise could even prove to be a conservative estimate, according to the nation’s solar industry.

New electricity linkages will be created between Tasmania and the mainland after the state became the latest to have its renewables projects fast tracked and given funding by the federal government.

For the first time in years, the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (APAC) has received a major grant. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has funded APAC to the tune of $19 million with the goal of reasserting Australia’s place at the forefront of solar technology and accelerating the competitiveness of renewable energy.

With the joint-feasibility study between Australia and Germany into the viability of a renewable hydrogen supply chain between the two nations now underway, Western Australia, perhaps the most eager Australian state to establish a green hydrogen export industry, has hosted an inaugural roundtable with some of the two nations biggest industry hitters.

New analysis from Cornwall Insight Australia has put Australia’s current battery energy storage pipeline at 7 GW. Of course, the vast majority of that projection is still firmly in the proposal phase, but the over 900 MW of energy storage thought to be developed by 2024 is still far in excess of AEMO’s ISP 2020 forecast, begging the question, how is the NEM going to fit it all in?

Western Australia’s McGowan Government has released a ‘Just Transition’ framework for the town of Collie, a town which has been at the centre of the state’s energy generation for a century. With the rise of renewables spelling the end of coal, the Government is looking to support the town as it seeks to reinvent itself in this ‘crucial phase’ of the energy transition.

In a strangely petty tit-for-tat, Energy Networks Australia has come out against the Grattan Institute’s November ‘Flame Out’ report, which called for, among other things, a moratorium on new gas connections in houses.

Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, has announced accelerated targets for the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, a way for Victorians to save on their bills and contribute to the state’s emissions reduction targets.