Federal Minister For Coal, Matt Canavan cause the Australian States “silly”
Canavan slams ‘silly’ states, Minister says firms are being by punished by states’ moratoria on gas exploration, as poll shows majority support for bans, THE AUSTRALIAN, RACHEL BAXENDALE, 29 Apr 17, Resources Minister Matthew Canavan says Australian businesses are being held back by the “silly decisions of state governments” who have placed moratoria on unconventional gas exploration, despite a new poll showing the majority of Australians support the bans.
More than twice as many Australians support moratoriums on fracking (56 per cent) as those who oppose them (20 per cent), according to an Australia Institute survey of 1420 people conducted over a week in March.
That majority in favour of bans on new unconventional gas extractions including hydraulic fracturing (fracking) was evident across all states.
The opposition to fracking also crossed party lines, with Labor, Liberal and minor party voters all expressing concern……
Australia Institute deputy director Ebony Bennett said industry demands to open more land to fracking were not about reducing energy prices but maximising profits.
“The current gas crisis and high gas prices are not an unintended consequence, but the result of linking Australia to the international gas market,” she said.
Shadow Environment Minister Mark Butler said Labor had dragged the government kicking as screaming to its decision to place export restrictions on the gas companies.
“We’d seen for a couple of years that there was a potential supply crunch coming our way because of the LNG operations and that’s why we announced in 2015 that we thought a policy of a national interest test should be adopted,” he told Insiders.
“We were rubbished by Malcolm Turnbull. He called us irresponsible. That we would wreck investment.
“The Commonwealth absolutely needed to take action and we welcome the fact that Malcolm Turnbull finally came to that decision this week.”
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the government’s export restrictions would do nothing to reduce the cost of gas domestically.
“What we’ve had happen is our gas market opened up to the international market, the prices are set at the world price,” she said. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/silly-states-holding-business-back-resources-minister/news-story/994a029f28672c0630e87dc10072346c
Federal Labor no longer supporting Adani coal mine
Federal Labor backtracking on support of Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine, ABC News, 1 May 17 By political reporter Dan Conifer, Federal Labor is stepping back from its support of Adani’s proposed multi-billion-dollar Queensland coal project.
The Indian company is still to decide whether to proceed with its Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin.
Earlier this month, Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed the project.
“I support the Adani coal mine so long as it stacks up. I hope it stacks up,” Mr Shorten said.
But Labor’s energy and environment spokesman Mark Butler today warned the development could hurt other coalmining areas……..
Westpac rules out lending to project
Westpac last week released a climate change policy stating it would only lend to projects involving higher-quality coal. The decision effectively ruled out financing the Adani development and any other ventures using coal from the Galilee Basin.
Mr Butler said the bank’s move was further proof “the economics of this project don’t stack up”.
“The demand for thermal coal exports around the world is in rapid decline,” he said.
“I think instead we should be thinking about other economic development and job opportunities for North Queensland.”
He said the Carmichael project would need a “miracle” to proceed.
Adani is seeking a $900 million taxpayer-subsidised loan for a rail line to the Abbot Point coal port.
According to Forbes’ rich list, group chairman Gautam Adani and his family are worth more than $8 billion.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-30/federal-labor-backtracks-on-support-of-adani-coal-mine/8483932
Westpac in tune with Australians about climate. Government sadly out of touch
Westpac’s anti-coal stance exposes a Coalition out of sync with business and public on climate http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/westpacs-anticoal-stance-exposes-a-coalition-out-of-sync-with-business-and-public-on-climate-20170428-gvuw4m.html Mark Kenny, Obviously Westpac’s public ‘un-friending’ of new coal – for which you can read Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in the Galiliee Basin – is a body blow for a project whose backers are thinning by the day.
Westpac is the last of the big four Australian banks to bin Adani’s publicly toxic prospectus.
All are unmoved by the lure of ongoing coal profits, especially if it comes with ties to a venture that has become a byword for climate change denial.
Adani will continue to seek other financiers – including extraordinarily, the Australian taxpayer from whom it is telling Indian backers, it remains eligible for a $1 billion loan. This is despite the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund rules, which appear to render it ineligible.
With or without that welfare, the business case for new coal generally and the Adani mine in particular, looks to be ebbing. Fast.
Westpac’s decision is an environmental declaration of intent. But it is a coldly commercial one also that recognises what the Australian government defiantly rejects: coal’s day has passed.
Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan hit out strongly at the bank, suggesting it had succumbed to the inner-city politics of Sydney rather than the employment needs of the sunshine state. Remarkably, Canavan – cabinet minister – even advocated a boycott, counselling potential customers to back a bank that backs Queensland’s interests.
Doubtless there would be many Queenslanders upset by the Adani venture, not least the thousands already employed around the Great Barrier Reef.
Besides, Westpac is hardly going out on a limb. Try going to the AGL website. One of the nation’s biggest energy companies has announced a new campaign to end its association with coal entirely: “The reasons for getting out of coal are all around us” its homepage proclaims.
Privately, Malcolm Turnbull must surely be hoping the Adani thing just goes away. The PM may be a progressive rationalist at heart but in his head there are other realities to balance. Party room realities like Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, and the Nationals, whose head-in-the-sand record on climate change has left farmers so exposed that even the National Farmers Federation now proposes a carbon price.
Paul Keating once described Turnbull as a cherry on a compost heap. The trouble with compost heaps is they tend to be stationary. This issue is anything but, and if you want proof, just follow the money.
AEMO chief says its mandate remains reliability and “solar penetration will increase”
Reform not an ‘either or’: AEMO
The electricity operator’s new chief says its mandate remains reliability and “solar penetration will increase”. Mandate remains reliability in time of change: AEMO chief The Australian, ,Andrerw White, April 28, 2017 The new chief executive of the Australian Energy Market Operator Audrey Zibelman says reform of the electricity market is not “either or” choice between fossil fuels and renewable power and needs to focus on restoring the confidence of consumers amid a series of rolling crisis in the market.
Ms Zibelman said the market operator had to get “ahead of the game’” to ensure the energy networks were reliable at a time of technological change and consumer choice that was driving increasing use of renewable energy.
“We understand that the degree of solar penetration is going to increase,’’ Ms Zibelman told ABC Radio this morning.
“We need to ensure that the networks to deal with these increases in a way to secure reliability and that we are essentially really ahead of the game rather than always catching up as an enabler to consumers and that we are an enabler of the better economic outcomes for consumers.’’
Ms Zibelman, a New Yorker who replaced the late Matt Zema as AEMO chief executive last month, said policy questions such as calls for an emissions intensity scheme were the responsibility of politicians, rather than the market operator. But she said AEMO had to respond to technological changes and consumer choices that were taking place regardless of policy and ensure the reliability of the networks.
“The issue is not the either or — one is good and one is bad. The fact is that it (renewable energy) operates in a very different way and so we need to be moving towards how do we optimise the system around the resources that we are going to use so that we optimise the value of everything … and take advantage of low costs and the resources they need to be secure. That has been the focus.”
AEMO has come under increasing scrutiny after a series of power outages in South Australia — where its failure to order extra gas-fired power forced blackouts for 90,000 homes — since September and a scare in NSW in February…….
Ms Zibelman said gas exports had contributed to higher prices and that AEMO had previously warned about the scarcity of gas for te local market.
“That is not different to what has happened before this year with AEMO’s report … there was a recognition about scarcity and it is something frankly that has been talked about for a couple of years.
“ I think there is real attention to it this year and a recognition that has created a lot of uncertainty and been disconcerting for customers and that we need to take action to really regain the confidence of consumers in the market place.”http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mandate-remains-reliability-in-time-of-change-aemo-chief/news-story/d31d16a97d4520003b04e8cb9be18f85
Westpac lashed on Adani decision, by Australia’s Minister For Coal, Matt Canavan
Resources Minister Matt Canavan called for a boycott of the bank for buckling to the demands of “noisy activists”…. (subscribers only)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/westpac-wimps-lashed-for-adani-coal-mine-loan-ban/news-story/e6bee3dcebb9c9b0b3f4cba523f4370d
Electricity network transformation roadmap: final report
http://apo.org.au/node/76068
The Roadmap Final Report is the product of more than two years of collaborative work carried out by Energy Networks Australia and CSIRO. More than 200 different industry representatives contributed at over 14 workshops and webinars held as part of the public consultation process. Information on the Roadmap has been viewed more than 30,000 times during the development process.
The Roadmap Final Report identifies integrated measures which can achieve a positive energy future for Australian energy customers – enabling choice, lower emissions, lower costs and high security and reliability.
Households and small businesses will be at the centre of Australia’s dramatic energy transition
Households will be at centre of Australia’s transition to 100% renewables, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 28 April 2017 Australia’s households and small businesses will be at the centre of the dramatic energy transition occurring around us, and will play a critical role in the switch to 100 per cent renewable energy, and saving around $100 billion in costs from the business-as-usual fossil fuel scenario.
That dramatic outline is the key takeaway from the final draft of the report of the Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap that has been painstakingly put together over the last three years by the government’s premier research body, the CSIRO, and Energy Networks Australia, which represents the grid owners across the country.
The key conclusion is that Australia can and should reach 100 per cent renewable energy for its electricity by 2050, and therefor zero emissions. It can, because the technology is there to do it. It should, because of climate change and the economics.
As it concluded in its earlier report in December, this consumer led transition to a grid centred around distributed generation, solar and storage, will save a heap of money in network investment ($16 billion), and network costs to consumers ($100 billion) by 2050.
Consumers will play a critical role and lead this transition. The report suggests that by 2050, households and businesses will have installed a phenomenal 80GW of rooftop solar, accompanied by some 97GWh of battery storage.
The 10 million households who have distributed energy resources like solar, storage, smart homes and electric vehicles by 2050 will play a critical role in how Australia manages its grid, which will no longer be based around a scenario of centralised baseload and peaking plants.
Instead,it will be based around wind, solar, storage and other flexible generation. And the key to providing that flexibility lies in the distributed nature of the grid, and taking advantage of the consumer investment in solar and storage, which will provide half of all the power needed and much of the storage.
But the stunning falls in the cost of renewable energy technologies, solar in particular, and of battery storage, means that Australia not only needs to get its transition policies and roadmaps into place, it is running out of time to do so.
The risks, the report says, is that without significant market reform and long term climate policy, the transition will be uncontrolled.
“We thought we had about 10 years to change pricing incentives,” CSIRO chief energy economist Paul Graham says. “We don’t, and if we leave it too late, we will get more customers buying distributed energy systems in places where isn’t such a need, or they are calibrated wrongly.”
That, he says, is about ensuring that consumers are reacting to signals of not just how much electricity they are using, but when they are using it. And ensuring that their assets – solar and storage – can be accessed to help manage the entire grid.
The big risk, the networks say, is that without the right pricing signals, many customers (at least 10 per cent will simply leave the grid.
The key measures, the report says, are having a stable, bipartisan, and ambitious climate policy (40 per cent reduction in 2005 emissions by 2030), cost reflective network pricing (to ensure that peak demand is addressed) and clear transition plans at state level for the local networks.
These need to be in place by 2020 or 2021. The CSIRO and ENA are hopeful that the Finkel Review will lay much of the groundwork, although it is fairly obvious to RenewEconomy that if these policies are to be delivered it is going to require a complete change in the nature of political rhetoric around energy policy and energy supply.
That means a change in the politics as well as the policy. There is not a snowflake’s chance of hell of setting the path towards a 100 per cent renewable energy grid if politicians are still saying stupid things about wind and solar.
Interestingly, the network transformation report goes into details about the 100 per cent renewable energy grid would work, and its implications for individual states.
It notes that each state grid can comfortably reach around 40 per cent penetration of variable wind and solar without much problem: from that point on, battery storage and technologies such as synchronous condensers need to be considered.
But it is only in the latter stages of the transition that new wind and solar has to be backed up like for like with storage. And that is based on assumptions that each state grid is distinct from the others.
In reality, the variability of supply will mean less back-up is needed, and the greatest need for backup will not come from those hot summer peaks, because there will be plenty of solar and storage to address that – but in the mild winters after days of cloudy weather.
But that also means that the back-up simply need not be as great, and will likely come from gas peakers that transition to biogas or a similar technology. We go into those assumptions in a separate story…….
This is what Audrey Zibelman of the Australian Energy Market Operator describes as the “consumer-led” transition, that will result in a grid that is cheaper, cleaner, faster and more reliable than the current one.
AEMO understands this, the networks understand this, most other energy insiders understand this too. Bradley says in the consultations held since the last version of the report was released in December has been positive.
“There has been a surprising strong level of support for the et of measures for roadmap,” he said. “The need for a clear transition plan seems to be widely endorsed.”
So, what’s the delay? http://reneweconomy.com.au/households-will-be-at-centre-of-australias-transition-to-100-renewables-55080/
Not all that much back-up is actually needed for high renewable grids
How much storage and back-up do high renewable grids need? REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 28 April 2017 Exactly how much storage and back-up does renewable energy need? It’s a question at the heart of electricity planning and the subject of many of the myths peddled by vested interests in the fossil fuel lobby and the gullible media. The answer is: not nearly as much as the naysayers would have you think.
According to the CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia, which own the local and interstate grids, a level of between 30 and 50 per cent share of variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar can be easily accommodated without any further back-up.
That’s because there is so much back-up built into the system already to support coal and gas-fired generation, either to meet peaks in demand, or to fill in gaps when coal and gas plants fail, as they do quite regularly, particularly in hot weather.
The estimate also reflects the changing view of technologies and how grids are managed. It was not so long ago that most engineers would have thought 10 per cent was the absolute maximum. The Murdoch media has been misquoting an old report saying that 20 per cent is the level at which problems occur. Some network operators think 60 per cent is the level.
The CSIRO and ENA says the amount of storage needed beyond that 30 to 50 per cent continues to be minimal until much greater levels of renewable energy are introduced, and then the extent of that back-up is largely dependent on local weather and climate, and their natural renewable energy sources.
The roadmap released by CSIRO and ENA on Friday, following nearly three years of work, includes an appendix on the levels of storage and/or peaking plant back-up needed, and how this might affect individual states.
By their own admission, the estimates are on the conservative side – because they have not allowed for greater network links between the states, and because some of the estimates do not include a mix of options. …….http://reneweconomy.com.au/much-storage-back-high-renewable-grids-need-60710/
Greens pleased at renewable energy boom in deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce’s electorate
Greens delight in inserting more wind turbines into Barnaby’s seat, REneweconomy,
And The Greens, the most ardent supporters of a very rapid transition to 100 per cent renewable energy (a goal that the CSIRO and the networks agree is quite attainable), delight in pointing this out.
This week, Shane Rattenbury, the ACT minister for climate change and the only Green to hold such a portfolio, and NSW Greens energy and resources spokesman Jeremy Buckingham went to Joyce’s seat to inspect the early construction work on the new Sapphire wind farm, a 100MW facility that is being built thanks to a contract signed by the ACT as part of its program to secure wind and solar for the equivalent of 100 per cent of its electricity needs by 2020.
They took particular delight in mocking Joyce’s description of a transition to renewables as “crazy”, while at the same time playing host to some of the biggest wind and solar projects in the state. Apart from Sapphire, New England also plays host to the White Rock wind farm and the new solar farm that is being built nearby, and other projects in the pipeline………
Rattenbury, who is also leader of the ACT Greens and now responsible for ensuring that the contracts with the 10 wind and solar farms in NSW, Victoria and South Australia are delivered, and that the state meets its 100 per cent target, says Sapphire will create 200 local jobs and generate up to $10 million in economic benefits within the local New England economy.
“It’s disappointing that the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce describes the ACT’s 100% renewable electricity target as ‘crazy’, while his electorate reaps the benefits of a clean energy future,” he said.
“The fact is, the contracts are in place, the projects are getting built and the ACT target will be met on time, at prices that aren’t exposed to the fluctuations of coal and gas.”
Indeed, the ACT may be a net beneficiary. It has locked much of its renewable energy generation at prices around $80/MWh, while wholesale prices across the nation have soared well beyond that. When the prices do jump above the fixed price negotiated by the ACT, the ACT consumers receive the difference……..http://reneweconomy.com.au/greens-delight-in-inserting-more-wind-turbines-into-barnabys-seat-48035/
Australia’s nuclear fool cycle – regurgitating pro-nuclear submissions made to the SA Royal Commission
Dennis Matthews, 28 Apr 17 Recently, some organisations with impressive sounding names held a symposium at the Australian National University.
The symposium of engineers and scientists was on the nuclear fuel cycle comprised of “mining and fuel processing, nuclear power and waste storage”. The fact that this is a linear process rather than a cycle doesn’t seem to have bothered the participants. The nuclear spin cycle however is real.
The symposium appears to have regurgitated pro-nuclear submissions made to the SA Royal Commission on the nuclear industry and ended up generally agreeing, “that a social licence to operate will not be achieved quickly”. This is an understatement. It has been six decades since Australia got involved in the nuclear industry and sent uranium mined in South Australia and the Northern Territory to the UK for processing and for making nuclear weapons, which were then “tested” in South Australia.
The symposium ended up recommending, “that expertise in the humanities and social sciences be engaged to study the evolution and determining factors for public opinion on nuclear issues in Australia.” Hopefully, these experts will teach the scientists and engineers how to be objective and how to tell the difference between a cycle and spin.
Australia’s nuclear lobby never gives up
Despite the resounding defeat of the shonky South Australian Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission last year, a few zealous lobbyists continue to put across the incorrect story that expansion of the nuclear industry in that State is a viable option.
They organised a symposium.
Cambridge Dictionary describes a symposium as : an occasion at which people who have great knowledge of a particular subject meet in order to discuss a matter of interest
That’s interesting, as the communique from this symposium did not name the experts who were present. I am suspecting that their “great knowledge” was on how to spin pro nuclear propaganda.
The meeting was co-ordinated by the pro nuclear physicist Professor Ken Baldwin. He apparently still believes in the goal of the NFCRC. He had this to say on the NFCRC goals
A further step could be to immediately establish a nuclear regulatory framework, in parallel with community consultation. This would reduce the lead time for nuclear to perhaps ten years if there is public acceptance
The symposium sounded so important, held at the ANU, hosted by The Australian National University (ANU) Energy Change Institute in collaboration with Engineers Australia, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.
It all sounds so awfully academic and gee-whiz important. Apart from Mr Baldwin, no other experts were named. Anyway, surprise surprise. They concluded that Nuclear options need to be in the energy mix. I’d just like to know – how many scientists actually were present? Who put up the arguments for nuclear? What were those arguments?
Australia’s solar rooftop hotspot – South Australia
South Australian households and businesses are installing solar panels as rising electricity prices and blackouts take their toll http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/jobs/south-australian-households-and-businesses-are-installing-solar-panels-as-rising-electricity-prices-and-blackouts-take-their-toll/news-story/4bda132bfbd5532d68ec9c13a2d6e8ec, Jade Gailberger, The Advertiser, 26 Apr 17
SOLAR uptake has reached new records across the nation, as South Australian households and businesses put in solar installations at almost double the rate of last year.
Solar analysts say the industry has experienced one of its strongest quarters, driven by increased knowledge, high electricity prices, and fear the Federal Government will cut incentives in the future.There is now six gigawatts of solar power installed across Australia — enough to meet the needs of 1.3 million average households — figures released today by the Australian Photovoltaic Institute show.“Solar power now makes up 11 per cent of our country’s total electricity generation capacity,” Australian Photovoltaic Institute chair Dr Renate Egan said.
South Australia has the highest penetration among dwellings at 32 per cent, with Aberfoyle Park identified as the state’s “solar rooftop hotspot”. More than 22,618 new solar installations have been made in SA as of April — 7000 more than the same time last year.
SunWiz managing director Warwick Johnston said small-scale residential and commercial solar installations will continue to grow because of an increased awareness of renewable energy.
“Particularly in SA given the context of all the blackouts that happened … people are moving towards being independent of the grid.”
He expects another 800MW will be installed across Australia this year, and said a boost from solar farm projects will equate to another gigawatt added to the grid. Continue reading
New South Wales wind farm to power 49,000 ACT homes
NSW’s Sapphire Wind Farm to power 49,000 ACT homes, Canberra Times, Georgina Connery, 27 Apr 17, It is a regional NSW project closer to the Queensland border than to Canberra, but within months the Sapphire Wind Farm will generate power for around 49,000 ACT homes. After a flight to Armidale and long car ride west of Glen Innes, climate change minster Shane Rattenbury toured the facility on Thursday.The wind farm will be NSW’s largest once it is completed.
It is owned by CWP Renewables, a joint venture between two European renewable energy companies, and was one of two successful projects in the ACT’s 2015 second wind auction.
The farm entered into a 20 year contract to supply 100 megawatts of its 270 megawatt output to the ACT government and by mid next year 32 wind turbines will come online to supply energy for the territory.
“Construction commenced in January 2017 on the 100 megawatt Sapphire 1 wind farm, which is another significant step in progress towards the ACT’s 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 target,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“The ACT supported part of the wind farm will generate 349,703 megawatt-hours per year.”
The ACT government’s reverse auctions have secured generating capacities of 40 megawatts from large-scale solar and 600 megawatts from wind farms over the past few years…… http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/nsws-sapphire-wind-farm-to-power-49000-act-homes-20170426-gvtejh.html
Dennis Mattews reviews Senate Committee report on Electricity Stability and Affordability
Dennis Matthews April 2017 Comments on The Senate Select Committee into the Resilience of Electricity Infrastructure in a Warming World. Stability and Affordability: Forging a path to Australia’s renewable energy future.Senator Sarah Hanson-Young April 2017
The report by Sarah Hanson-Young is understandably critical of Liberal-National Coalition policy. It is no surprise that the committee’s Coalition Senators issued a dissenting report. It is also no surprise that the committee’s One Nation Senator, who has publically claimed that there is no evidence for global climate change, rejected the Hanson-Young report.
Both the Committee’s ALP Senators and Senator Xenophon issued dissenting reports, which however add very little to the Hanson-Young report.
The following comments will therefore concentrate on the Committee report by Senator Hanson-Young. Headings used are the same as those in the Committee report.
Executive summary In the last two decades, natural gas was widely accepted as the obvious substitute for coal during the transition from fossil to renewable energy. In 2017 the validity of this assumption has been cast into doubt by the sudden increase in price of natural gas in Australia and “there are serious questions about whether gas can adequately fill this transitional role.”
In the sense that this problem has been induced by unregulated market forces dominated by the private, rather than the public, interest then the problem is in principle solvable. So far, however Federal Governments have shown very little appetite for regulating markets and it is therefore wise to assume that the gas shortage and resulting exorbitant prices will be a permanent fixture of energy supply and demand.
As with many energy issues, decades of inaction may well mean that we have missed the chance of a smooth transition from fossil to renewable energy and that a more abrupt transition is unavoidable. Continue reading
Australia’s rapidly increasing solar energy capacity
Australian solar capacity now 6GW, to double again by 2020, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 27 April 2017 Australia’s total solar power capacity has reached 6GW and is expected to double over the next few years as Australian households continue to invest in rooftop panels to reduce electricity bills, and the large-scale solar sector takes off after years of promise.
The latest industry analysis on installed capacity – released by the Australian Photovoltaic Institute – shows that rooftop solar capacity has now reached 5.6GW and large-scale solar capacity is now at 496MW, and growing fast.
The leading state in rooftop solar remains Queensland, with 1.72GW of rooftop solar – that makes it, as we reported here, bigger than the state’s largest coal generator. NSW and Victoria also have more than 1GW of rooftop solar capacity, with South Australia having the highest penetration (32 per cent) among residential dwellings.
As of April 2017, there was a total of 1.67 million PV installations in Australia, covering 21 per cent of suitable rooftops, which is the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world. In total, these solar installations collectively generate 8,400 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, which meets approximately 3.3 per cent of Australian demand.
The data suggests that the rate of installation of rooftop solar is also accelerating. After establishing a record March quarter, the rate of installations for the year to date is up significantly in all the major states.
Interestingly, the biggest growth is coming from Western Australia, which has installed 43MW so far this year, outstripping Victoria, as locals prepare for the likely imminent removal of the state-based subsidy that has hidden the true cost of electricity from consumers……..
by 2040 the nature of the grid will have changed dramatically, and will have become more “distributed” – as predicted by the new head of the Australian Energy Market Operator Audrey Zibelman.
The key features will be localised and flexible generation. Batteries – and BNEF predicts there will be at least 15GW of them – will provide a large amount of flexibility, but so too will other forms of flexible generation, including demand response……… http://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-solar-capacity-now-6gw-to-double-again-by-2020-2020/
1 This month.
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 