The State of Renewable Energy in Australia
- Written by News Company
An overview of the renewable energy in Australia shows many positive signs of improvement and development. More and more citizens consider switching to solar power as the price continues to drop for a rooftop solar unit.
With so much powerful sunlight, it is a relatively cheap and efficient option for many homeowners to have solar panels installed. Private businesses are taking advantage of Australia’s grand landscape to set up large-scale solar farms, wind turbines, and battery storage facilities. This is a great sign of the future of renewable energy in Australia.
Continue reading below to find out more about the current state of renewable energy in Australia.
Grid Overload
Recent power outages and blackouts due to the power grid becoming overloaded have caused a rush towards alternative ways to supply the electrical system. The most notable and highly-publicized development is the Tesla partnership with the Australian government in South Australia to install the world’s most powerful lithium battery storage site. Wind, solar, and hydropower stations are thriving in Australia. However, more can be done to rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewables.
A National Approach
Currently, there is no national renewable energy policy in place that all states are required to follow. Each state/territory has a slightly different approach to the implementation of renewable energy. The Climate Council of Australia Limited has just produced a very detailed report on the state of renewables in each area. South Australia is leading the others by quite a large margin of 47% renewable electricity and 31% solar households. Tasmania also has a very high percentage of renewable energy currently at 92% renewable electricity, mostly from hydroelectric power sources.
Renewables vs Fossil Fuels
The Climate Council report also shows that an average of 16% of electricity comes from renewables across all of Australia. The use of solar panels in households has increased each year in all territories in their study. Both the falling installation price as well as the savings in power costs along with the long, sunny days are incentives for homeowners to purchase them.
While these findings are all good news for renewables, the Australian government is still encouraging the use of coal, especially with exports. Coal is a huge business for Australia’s economy, with major exports to India, China, and Japan. While some experts talk of “clean coal” options that are better for the environment, many environmentalists are not convinced that this is a viable option for the future of lowering greenhouse emissions. The idea of a new technology that makes a lower emission coal is admirable, but at what cost? The cost for renewable energy plants or refurbishing a coal plant into a renewable energy source has been shown to be a lower cost than investing in the complexities of a clean coal plant.
In Victoria, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) started power rationing with a financial incentive to encourage customers to reduce their consumption. This is in an effort to reduce usage during the hot summer months when air conditioners can overload the system and cause blackouts. The AEMO stated that the cause of the most recent September 2016 power blackout was due to the sensitive wind farm settings that shut down and then created a snowball effect to cause the backup systems to also stop working. Because of this shutdown event, this has caused energy experts to delve more thoroughly into the power grid weaknesses and find ways to improve the systems already in place.
The Future is Green
The Paris Agreement and greater worldwide awareness of the environment have many government officials, scientists, activists, and businesspeople working towards solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
There are many positives noted in the Climate Council report we should focus on. The hope is that the states and territories of Australia will drive the country as a whole to make the necessary environmental energy improvements and come to rely less on coal and move toward a greener future.