Policy

Australia’s energy ministers have unanimously agreed to establish a capacity investment mechanism that they anticipate will unleash at least $10 billion (USD 6.7 billion) worth of investment and at least 6 GW of renewable energy generation and storage to stabilise the grid as the nation’s ageing coal-fired power plants exit the energy market.

The Australian government will commence talks with investors and industry this week on the formation of a $15 billion (USD 10.2 billion) national reconstruction fund that aims to boost investment in onshore manufacturing, including the production of solar panels, batteries and hydrogen electrolysers, and components for wind turbines.

On the back of the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflict and allegations of forced labour in sectors critical to the renewable energy transition, awareness of supply chain insecurity has rarely been higher. Seeking to strike while the iron is hot, the Clean Energy Council and law firm Norton Rose Fulbright have published a white paper arguing that Australia’s own renewable energy supply chains could “benefit significantly” by a more concerted effort to address modern slavery.

With Australia’s energy system rapidly transitioning from a traditional dependency on coal-fired power generation towards a future built on renewables, the market operator has detailed the engineering roadmap required for the country’s main power systems to operate on 100% renewable energy more frequently and for longer periods.

New provisions in the Philippines define interconnection standards, the certification of compliance requirements, and pricing methodologies, among other matters.

The First Nations Clean Energy Network, a group launched in November 2021 to ensure Indigenous communities share in the benefits from renewables, is releasing new guides to help industry and government engage with First Nations communities.

The developed world is facing scenarios of zero economic growth or even recessions, as inflation, energy costs, interest-rate rises, and tougher lending criteria makes life tough for business. But money is flowing into the energy transition by scaling and commercialising existing technologies, reports pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner.

The Clean Energy Council has reiterated calls to reform the grid connection process to provide increased certainty and security for investors after a new report revealed only one renewable energy generation project reached financial close in Australia in the third quarter of 2022.

With the US offering tremendous capital to “friendshore” its renewable supply chains, the cofounder of a major renewables investor, David Scaysbrook, says President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could turn Australia into a critical mineral and rare earth powerhouse. “The question is, do we have the stomach for that?” Scaysbrook asks. For Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, it’s a matter of the government taking a whole system approach and going early.

Calls for the Albanese government to adopt a Renewable Energy Storage Target are growing, with an alliance of organisations visiting Australia’s Parliament to lobby for the move.