Bowen calls meeting with ministers to combat energy crisis
With industry figures warning Australia is on the “precipice” of an energy crisis, federal, state and territory ministers will meet next week to discuss the situation with skyrocketing gas, petrol and electricity prices being described as a “perfect storm”.
Historical wholesale price trend bucked thanks to renewables
January normally sees a spike in the average wholesale electricity price. This year, however, increased solar PV and wind generation have seen this traditional trend bucked.
Growing renewable capacity drives energy bills down to 2022/23
The Australian Energy Market Commission’s latest annual Residential Electricity Price Trends report shows costs reducing as renewable build out replaces inefficient coal-fired generation, and more lowest-cost renewable supply is on the way.
Australian solar owners are saving more while staying at home because of Covid-19
Analyzing its fleet of solar sites, Solar Analytics has found that energy consumption in households due to Covid-19 confinement is up only slightly, if at all. While this is good news, the great news is that the onsite consumption of free solar power in these households is up significantly.
How good is solar farming?
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.
Amber Electric: The year when the promise of smart grid begins to be realized at scale
As the energy landscape continues to evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century, digitalization is growing within generation, distribution and transmission. On the demand management side, Amber Electric is seeking to bring transparency to the market, passing wholesale prices directly to consumers for a $10 flat monthly fee. The Melbourne-based start-up is readying to expand its offering in 2020, as home batteries, EV chargers and other smart devices establish a firmer hold in the Australian electricity market, says Dan Adams, co-founder of Amber Electric.
Innovators Amber Electric raise $2.5 million in seed funding
A group of Australian investors led by venture capital fund Square Peg has backed the Melbourne-based start-up which aims to revolutionise the way Australian households buy electricity by passing through wholesale rates.
Victoria increases minimum feed-in tariffs
From 1 July this year, the single minimum price Victoria’s solar households will receive for the power they export to the grid will increase by two cents per kilowatt hour. However, under the time-varying tariff introduced last year, the peak rate tariff has been slashed by half.
The verdict is in: renewables reduce energy prices (yes, even in South Australia)
Does renewable electricity raise or lower electricity prices? There is more to this question than meets the eye: are prices lower before or after renewable subsidies are recovered, how has variability been accounted for, how have changes in network costs been accounted for, and so on and on. Bruce Mountain, the Director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre and Steven Percy, a research fellow at Victoria University set out new findings.
AEMO: Record quarter for renewables as large-scale solar floods electricity market
The amount of large-scale solar capacity that commenced generation during the third quarter of 2018 was higher than the NEM’s entire large-scale solar capacity at the start of the year, reports the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). In other news, Western Australia has pass the 1 GW solar milestone, while South Australia has seen record levels of curtailment.
