Grant King’s new attack on renewables – and the carbon price – was expected by most in the industry. It underlines the fear that Australia’s utilities are not ready to evolve, unless there is strong political leadership. Sadly, there is not much chance of that.
The Climate Change Authority says the 41,000GWh target for large-scale renewables should remain – paving the way for a massive build-out of wind farms, and eventually solar farms. But the CCA has fiddled with the rooftop solar component, and that could be bad news for commercial scale solar PV.
EnergyAustralia reports sharp fall in earnings as demand slumps due to impact of renewables, rooftop solar and energy efficiency. It says any float will be put on hold until it can address these issues. But help may be at hand, with the star recruit for the Coalition suggesting that gas be included in a diluted Renewable Energy Target.
The goal of having 100 per cent renewable energy is no longer a mere aspiration, it could be inevitable. The plunging technology costs of wind and solar have unleashed economic forces that could be unstoppable.
Survey finds 87% of Australians think more should be done to make us a top-10 renewables producer, and hints at a renewed rooftop solar boom.
Climate Change Authority chairman Bernie Fraser said he fears Abbott government would be swayed by the fossil fuel lobby’s attack on renewables, and dilute the LRET. He decries the short term nature of policy making, and explains why the CCA made its decision to shunt commercial solar PV into the capped large scale renewable energy target.
The battle over renewables gets dirty; coal miners hang grimly onto concept of baseload power; Macquarie’s disappearing balance sheet; why vested interests can’t win; and why our appliances are getting smart and cheap to operate.
RET critics must be reeling: CCA review finds that the RET works, is lowering wholesale power prices, and will result in 54Mt of avoided emissions.
The recommendation that the RET be left unchanged is good news, but a number of the CCA’s other suggestions will dampen future solar growth.
As well as being ill-timed, the suggestion that the RET be scrapped and replaced with a reverse auction system has three key weaknesses.
Instead of adapting to a changing market, Origin is trying to have renewable energy neutered – and thus, throwing investment certainty out the window.
There are some very good reasons why the Renewable Energy Target is extremely popular – not least of all because it is working.
Yet more delays in Australian green energy. A study on planning to transition to 100 per cent renewables that was supposed to have been completed by mid year has not even been started. Meanwhile, a 200MW solar PV plant will be built in California in less than half the time, and at two-thirds the cost of the Flagships winner. But households get it, and are installing solar at record rates.
Growing evidence of slumping energy demand means the stakes are extremely high in the upcoming review of the Renewable Energy Target, as well as the proposed cash-for-clunkers buyout of brown coal generators. The future of conventional and renewable generation in Australia could well depend on it.
… and the next big baseload project will likely be PNG hydro. Origin Energy CEO Grant King also discusses the RET, the case for smart meters and the changing nature of the energy retail industry, the flickering prospects of geothermal, and why he said no to Solar Flagships.
2012 will be a critical year for cleantech in Australia. Costs for many technologies are falling rapidly, but critical decisions will be made about renewable energy targets and support mechanisms. Here, the heads of Pacific Hydro, GE, Infigen Energy, Better Place, Origin, First Solar, Carnegie Wave, the Grattan Insitute, the CEC and the SEAA share their predictions.
The debate around the structure and the purpose of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be one of the most critical policy debates of 2012. We summarise some of the more important submissions. Meanwhile, concern about the ability to meet the RET may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
