Renewable Energy Workshop Statement

During a three day workshop held at ANU recently, experts from a broad range of backgrounds discussed the future of the electricity system. The following statement has been prepared to inform both federal and state policy, in order to deliver an equitable and clean system.

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    The statement complete with a list of signatories can be downloaded here. Presentations from the workshop itself can be viewed here.

    Electricity transmission, storage and market reform required now to achieve emissions targets

    50 energy experts gathered for a three day symposium at the Australian National University last week to discuss the latest research on the role of renewable energy in Australia’s low-carbon transition.

    The group found that renewable energy is central to our efforts to mitigate climate change. In recent times the Australian energy sector has deployed solar and wind power at unprecedented rates. But there are emerging bottlenecks, and the present market settings do not deliver for consumers.

    While action is also required in other sectors of the economy to achieve deep emissions cuts, a sustained shift from fossil fuels to solar and wind power is absolutely necessary for Australia to meet and surpass our 2030 emissions target.

    To maintain this rapid pace of renewable energy deployment, Australia urgently needs:

    • additional electricity transmission
    • additional energy storage and demand response mechanisms
    • electricity market reform
    • a solid electricity infrastructure investment framework.

    The shift to 100% renewables will be accompanied by the inevitable phasing out of existing coal power plants. Achieving a smooth transition will require careful attention to coal power workers, their communities and energy consumers.

    To meet Australia’s emissions targets it is imperative that federal and state governments address emerging infrastructure bottlenecks, embark on market reform and improve the investment framework.

    The symposium was attended by experts on energy generation, storage, transmission, economics, markets, regulation and policy and included representatives from universities, research institutes, civil society and government agencies.

    Canberra, 19 February 2019

    Armin Aberle, CEO and Professor at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Emma Aisbett, Fellow, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University

    Ken Baldwin, Director, Energy Change Institute, Australian National University

    Lachlan Blackhall, Entrepreneurial Fellow and Head, Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program, The Australian National University

    Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University

    Steve Blume, President, Smart Energy Council

    Andrew Bray, Australian Wind Alliance

    Anna Bruce, Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney

    Mary A. Cameron, Stanford University Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Kylie Catchpole, Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University

    Cheng Cheng, PhD student, Australian National University

    Richard Corkish, COO, Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, UNSW

    Roger Dargaville, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

    Andrew Dickson, Project Manager – Asian Renewable Energy Hub, CWP Renewables

    Mark Diesendorf, Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney

    Renate Egan, Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney and Chair Australian PV Institute

    Tristan Edis, Director Analysis & Advisory, Green Energy Markets

    Martin Green, Scientia Professor, UNSW Sydney

    Navid Haghdadi, Postdoctoral researcher, UNSW Sydney

    Suzanne Harter, Climate and Clean Energy Campaigner, ACF

    Simon Holmes à Court, Senior Advisor, Climate and Energy College, Melbourne University

    Nicky Ison, Research Associate, UTS and Founding Director, Community Power Agency

    Frank Jotzo, Professor at Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU

    Ariel Liebman, Associate Professor, Monash University and Director, Grid Innovation Hub

    Eytan Lenko, Director, Beyond Zero Emissions

    David Leitch, Principal, ITK Services

    Bin Lu, Research Fellow, Australian National University

    Iain MacGill, Associate Professor, Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets, UNSW Sydney

    Dylan McConnell, Climate & Energy College, University of Melbourne

    Tom Morris, Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS

    Bruce Mountain, Associate Professor, Victoria University and Director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre

    Simon Nicholas, Energy Finance Analyst, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

    Pao-Yu Oei, Head of Research Group CoalExit, TU Berlin and DIW Berlin

    David Osmond, Senior Wind Engineer, Windlab

    Rob Passey, Postdoctoral Fellow, UNSW Sydney

    John Quiggin, Professor, University of Queensland

    Thomas Reindl, Deputy CEO and Principal Research Fellow at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Hugh Saddler, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU

    Ronald A. Sinton, President and Senior Scientist, Sinton Instruments, Boulder CO USA

    Igor Skryabin, Research and Business Dev Manager, ANU Energy Change Institute

    Nathan Steggel, Technical Director, Windlab

    Matthew Stocks, Research Fellow, Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering, ANU

    Matthias Vetter, Head of Department Electrical Energy Storage, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany

    Gregory Wilson, Principal, G. M. Wilson Consulting, Denver, Colorado USA

    Oliver Yates, Investor

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