Opinion & Analysis

Australia’s renewable energy transition has prompted the construction of dozens of large-scale solar farms. The boom helps reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels, but requires large areas of land to be converted to host solar infrastructure.

If Australia is to decarbonise our energy system by 2050, we need to start the transition to electric vehicles very soon. Cars sold in the 2030s will mostly still be on the road in 2050, so we have to make sure most of them are electric. But electric cars (including plug-in hybrids) currently account for only 3.5% of new car sales in Australia.

Sun Cable – considered to be the world’s biggest renewable energy export project – announced on Wednesday it had entered voluntary administration following “the absence of alignment” with shareholders.

Almost one in three Australian households have solar panels on their roofs. Most are motivated by rising electricity prices and environmental concerns. Households are paid a so-called feed-in tariff for surplus energy they export to the grid.

Australia is well-positioned to be a global leader in green hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is produced using a renewable power source such as solar or wind. As a substitute for fossil fuels, it will help to meet growing renewable energy needs.

The catchphrase ‘there’s no transition without transmission’ seems to get thrown around more and more. Much of the discussion that follows centres around increasing capacity to allow for more wind and solar farms. But perhaps less discussed, is the emerging challenges that face the existing transmission network in ensuring system security

Des Hang on the three main doubts that still linger around Australia’s burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The cost of megaprojects is becoming increasingly difficult to estimate, which is causing budget blow outs. Analysis by the Grattan Institute shows that governments in Australia spent $34 billion more on transport infrastructure than first estimated, and that there was a 21% total cost blowout of $20 million-plus projects in the past 20 years. This is a strong example of the need for chief financial officers (CFOs) to participate in managing the cost of inflation through improved communication with stakeholders across supply channels.

With Australia’s target of a 43% emissions reduction by 2030, and similar targets from nations across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, solar projects are set to soar in 2023 and beyond.

The Andrews Labor government has been returned in Victoria. It must now reckon with two particularly crucial challenges: runaway climate change and wartime-scale energy costs.