Asia Pacific – Australia – renewable energy about to boom
Renewable sector set to boom BY: SARAH-JANE TASKER The Australian August 19, 2012 PLENTY of deals are expected in Australia’s renewable energy sector in the second half of the year, as merger and acquisition activity in the Asia-Pacific region far outpaces the rest of the world.
A PwC report on deals in the power and renewable energy sectors, to be released today, shows globally the value of deals halved to $US50.8 billion in the first half compared with the same period last year, but Asia-Pacific deals more than tripled to $US23.6bn.
PwC energy, utilities and mining leader Jock O’Callaghan said there was growing interest in Australia’s renewable energy industry, driven by China and Japan, before the 2020 deadline for a 20 per cent renewable energy target…
… The largest renewable deal involved Japan’s Eurus Energy, a subsidiary of Tepco, agreeing to acquire the Hallett 5 wind farm for $US129 million, its first wind power investment in Australia. Mr O’Callaghan said a number of wind farms in Australia were likely to be put on the sales block this year……… http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/renewable-sector-set-to-boom/story-e6frg8zx-1226453640791
Australia tops the world in household solar panels
Australians lead in fitting solar panels on homes, SMH, August 18, 2012 Ben Cubby AUSTRALIANS put more household solar panel systems on their roofs than anyone else in the world last year, new data from the Clean Energy Regulator and the International Energy Agency show. The statistic astonished many in the solar industry, given Australia’s small population compared with renewable energy market leaders such as European Union countries, China, Japan and the United States.
About 392,500 new household solar systems were switched on last year. Australia still generates far less solar electricity than those countries, but the nation’s preference for small, individual panels mounted on detached, owner-occupied suburban homes means a greater number of systems were actually installed. Continue reading
Victor Harbor, South Australia, – the nation’s champion solar city
South Australia’s Victor Harbor A Solar Stronghold http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3341 15 AUGUST, 2012 | by Energy Matters
Home owners in Victor Harbor, a seaside resort township situated 80 kilometres from Adelaide, South Australia, have been installing solar panels at a cracking pace. A Clean Energy Council (CEC) report late last year put Victor Harbor installations at 38% of all houses in the area – and the love affair with solar continues.
According to Victor Harbor Renewable Energy Programs, six meters per day were being installed in June 2012; resulting in a least 40% of the town’s houses now featuring solar power systems.
Given the recent 18% rise in electricity prices in South Australia, savings on power bills for Victor Harbor consumers are now estimated at over $1 million per annum – a very impressive outcome given the population of the area. “This changes our local economy for the better. The money stays here and the opportunity of harvesting what the CSIRO Smart Grid report terms ‘distributed energy,’ becomes an economic opportunity not just for Victor Harbor, but all regional communities,” states the VHREP web site.
The City of Victor Harbor set up a solar buyer’s group in 2009 that resulted in approximately 3,000 ratepayers across four councils installing solar panels. Asolar buyers group uses the power of bulk purchasing to reduce the cost of installing systems.
Across the Fleurieu Peninsula, the associated carbon emissions reduction of these systems is estimated at 3,000 tonnes per annum.
According to solar solutions provider Energy Matters, a good quality 5kW solar power system installed in Adelaide can realise electricity bill savings of over $1,800 a year – and similar savings can be achieved throughout the state.
Under South Australia’s feed in tariff program, new participants now receive 25.8c per kilowatt hour minimum for surplus electricity generated by their systems that is exported to the mains power grid.
As we reported earlier this week, South Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar panels among Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) regions, with around 20% of SA homes having installed systems by the end of February 2012.
Australian government bureau reports that wind and sun will be the cheapest energy technologies
The turning point for renewables has arrived http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/08/13/3565263.htm ANDREW BRAYABC 13 AUG 2012 Wind is predicted to be the cheapest form of energy by 2020.
THE BUREAU OF RESOURCE AND ENERGY ECONOMICS provides the Federal Government with all it wants to know about energy. Under the leadership of Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, it is the last word on energy thinking in Canberra. In its Draft Energy White Paper last year it painted a rosy future for coal, gas and oil, with only a bit part for renewables.
Their message has been simple – when you want real energy, dig it out of the ground.
But recently it did something no one had ever imagined. It covered its latest report (pdf), , the Australian Energy Technology Assessment (AETA), not with pictures of massive coal loaders but with pictures of solar panels.
It was a declaration by this most conservative of government bureaucracies that renewable energy will become Australia’s energy source of choice, not because it is clean, safe and popular – all of which are true – but because it is cheap. The report slashes previous estimates of the cost of a whole range of renewables technologies and in some cases doubles the predicted cost of coal-fired generation. Continue reading
AUDIO – Australia using less electricity, renewables increasingly supplying baseload power
Electricity demand falling in Australia ABC Radio David Mark reported this story on Monday, August 13, 2012 Listen to MP3 of this story ( minutes) MARK COLVIN: A new report shows demand for new electricity generation in Australia is slowing down.
Across the country the demand for new baseload power generators has been pushed back by around four years. What’s more, that baseload power is being increasingly supplied by renewables like wind and gas, which produce less CO2 than coal.
One expert in the electricity market says reasons for the reduced demand include greater efficiency in electronic goods, consumer education and an increasing number of rooftop solar panels.
David Mark reports. DAVID MARK: There’s a strange disconnect going on in the debate about electricity prices in Australia. We’re all paying more for our electricity. And we’re being told we have to because of the need for more infrastructure. And yet…
HUGH SADLER: For the last four or five years we’ve seen no growth inthe consumption of electricity in Australia. ….
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3566840.htm
Success of wind and solar energy in South Australia
SA shows wind and solar make energy cleaner and cheaper, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 13 August 2012As Europe has looked towards its biggest and most successful economy Germany to lead the way into green energy, Australians are getting a glimpse into its own grid of the future in the state of South Australia – arguably the advanced economy with the highest wind energy penetration, and now with the highest penetration of rooftop solar PV, in the world.
The latest South Australian Electricity Report (SAER), released by the Australian Energy Market Operator last week, gives some fascinating insights into how wind and now solar PV are changing the nature of the local grid – and providing the state with cleaner, greener and cheaper energy.
For a start, in 2011/12, wind overtook coal as the second biggest producer of energy in the state.
But while solar PV is not included , here’s another interesting set of statistics. South Australia has had the biggest reduction in energy demand compared to forecasts of just a year ago – down 10 per cent from last year’s predictions. Industry demand has fallen, but it still represents growth of 5.4 per cent. The biggest change has been in residential demand, which has fallen 7 per cent. It just so happens that South Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop PV of all the NEM states, meaning – as AEMO states – that ‘”less electricity is being supplied from the grid.”
Indeed, by the end of 2012, two out of five houses in the state had installed rooftop solar PV – more than double the national rate ….. Another interesting snippet from AEMO’s report is that rooftop solar – contrary to some opinion – is helping to meet peak demand….. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/sa-shows-wind-and-solar-make-energy-cleaner-and-cheaper-39021
Any new bulk electricity generation in Australia will be sourced only from renewables
The only new generation that will be built in any great quantity in the next decade will be renewables THE AUSTRALIAN BY: GILES PARKINSON August 10, 2012 LAST year was a notable one for the global green energy industry: for the first time, the value of new generation exceeded that of fossil fuels. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, $US187 billion ($176bn) was invested across the globe in new plants generating electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass, while $US157bn was invested for natural gas, oil and coal. It is not a trend that is expected to be reversed.
This figure is rarely mentioned at home. Yet Australia seems destined for an even more dramatic turnaround in energy investment.
As the annual Electricity Statement of Opportunities published by the Australian Energy Market Operator concluded this week, there was no need for any new coal or gas baseload generation in the country for the next decade.
The only new generation that will be built in any great quantity will be renewables. Most of this will come from wind, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of the green energy plans, although solar may play a more prominent role in years to come. Continue reading
Australian breakthrough in solar energy storage
The picture at left is of a typical Lithium ion battery, not the sodium ion one. But I do my best! – CM
Australian scientists make renewable energy storage breakthrough, Home Heating Guide By Katie Anderson August 10, 2012 Although renewable energy technologies have come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of decades, a solution to economical energy storage remains a big stumbling block in the quest to generate more energy with sustainable technologies and to make renewable energies more affordable. However a team of scientists in Australia are one step closer to finding a viable solution in terms of storing solar and wind energy for use in non-generation times – at night and during windless days. And it comes in the form of a water-based sodium-ion battery , developed by researchers from the School of Chemical and Mathematical Sciences at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. Continue reading
Australia’s Prime Minister aware of the importance of distributed solar energy
Julia Gillard made two key points – apart from drawing attention to the massive overspend on poles and wires – about the energy systems of the future in her speech on Tuesday. One was about the introduction of smart technologies, and the other was about the power of choice. “People should be able to use what they want when they want it, and cut out expensive services they don’t need,”
new technologies are now offering alternatives and distributed generation has become cost-competitive and reliable
Do energy consumers want a smart grid, or no grid at all? REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 8 August 2012 Robin Gudgel, the founder of Californian energy firm Midnite Solar, has been helping people provide their own electricity – mostly with renewable energy sources and batteries – for their homes and small businesses for several decades. …. now it’s more of a mainstream trend – people living where the grid doesn’t reach, and some who want to look after themselves because they want to make a statement about their green credentials, or their independence.
“Very seldom do you get people who get mad as hell about electricity prices and go off grid. It simply costs too much,” Gudgel told RenewEconomy during a recent visit to Australia. That may well be the case in mainland USA, where electricity prices are relatively benign.
But in Hawaii, where electricity prices are three times higher, customers are getting as mad as hell and are reportedly leaving the grid in droves. So is the US military…… Energy independence is the big new strategic play of the US military brass. And it’s on the wish list of consumers.
Why does this matter to Australians? Well, it turns out that Hawaii and Australia have a lot in common. Both are islands, both have plenty of sun, and both have really high retail electricity prices – Hawaii because it relies on imported fuel and Australia because of its massive network infrastructure, much of which may be surplus to requirements – and both have falling energy demand. Continue reading
Victoria’s Baillieu government destroying wind industry in that State
the Baillieu government has introduced severe planning restrictions, with 14 of the 18 previously publicly announced wind farm proposals that are now unlikely to proceed located in that state.
The wind farms that Baillieu killed. REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 9 August 2012 If Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu came to power with a determination to kill off opportunities for wind farm development in Victoria, then he can be proud of his work.
The annual Electricity Statement of Opportunities released today by the Australian Energy Market Operator highlights how much the opportunities for wind farm developments in Victoria have been reduced in the past year. Continue reading
Solar photovoltaic energy is here to stay, and to grow, in Australia
The inevitability of Solar PV in Australia, The Energy Collective, Nigel Morris, August 8, 2012 Is 40 gigawatts by 2030 conceivable in Australia?We argue for the inevitable surprise PV has in store for us. Over the last few months, I have had the pleasure of presenting to hundreds of solar industry delegates at the EcoGeneration Master Classes held around Australia.
Inevitably, the most interesting part for me was the conversations with so many who are at the ‘coal face’; working day in, day out to sell the virtues of solar photovoltaic (PV) against rising coal-fired energy prices.
I met installers who told me that they could feel the attitude of the mass market changing, describing how the economic proposition was so compelling that conversion rates were rising, despite the declining levels of government support.
I met wholesalers who were astounded at the rate of demand from dealers, at the pull-through from the market, and that it is flowing well beyond 30 June – when the Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) multiplier will be reduced. They are talking about short-term supply shortages, would you believe.
…….One of the most popular slides in my presentation was one that showed a snapshot of where the local market could be by 2030. This slide stems from analysis I helped produce for the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) who – as a result – effectively lifted the expectations for solar PV from less than 2 gigawatts (GW) in 2030 to a potential of 18 GW. And that’s only the rooftop installations; the ‘behind-the-meter’ demand. But since the last Master Class, several fascinating events have occurred that got me thinking about how this revised projection fits into the wider context of predicting solar uptake. Continue reading
Demand for power falls http://www.theage.com.au/business/demand-for-power-falls-20120808-23uk9.html#ixzz235uEjIIk August 9, 2012 Brian Robins New power stations will not be needed until 2018: forecast WEAK electricity demand will delay for several years the need to build new power stations and, when building resumes, renewable power and peaking power plants using gas will be the main new sources of energy. Continue reading
Solar panel popularity cuts demand
Adelaide Now, Julian Swallow August 09, 2012 REDUCED electricity consumption and growing use of renewable energy will cause a five-year delay in the need for extra generation investment in SA, a new report says. Continue reading
Australians taking up decentralised solar power – with a vengeance!
The federal government’s principal forecasting body last week said its landmark assessment of 40 different technologies indicated that by 2030, solar PV would be the cheapest of all available technologies
Off grid and on household and commercial rooftops, solar PV is already offering a cheaper alternative.
nearly four million Australians are living in a home with solar hot water or a PV system – and that means they don’t listen to the bulls*** that it is not working, not ready or unreliable.”
Bolt from the blue: How Australia got gold in rooftop solar REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 6 August 2012 Australia has long been regarded as one of the pioneers of the global solar photovoltaic industry, courtesy of its excellent research at institutions such as UNSW and elsewhere. Now, thanks to its excellent solar resource, rising electricity costs and the falling cost of solar PV, it is now emerging as the leading market for rooftop solar as well.
It wasn’t that long ago that visitors from Europe expressed their astonishment about the lack of solar panels on Australia’s rooftops. But, as one industry leader noted the other day, the growth of PV in Australia has jumped 6,900 per cent between the Beijing Olympics and the London Olympics – enough to earn it a gold medal in deployment.
As consulting group SunWiz noted last month, Australia installed more small-scale rooftop PV (systems less than 10kW) on households in 2011 than Germany, with 795MW vs 759MW. It now has an estimated 1.7 gigawatts of solar PV installed on rooftops, and is expected to get to 2,000MW by the end of the year. The Australian Energy Markets Operator recently said there could be 12,000MW to 18,000MW of rooftop solar PV in the country by 2030. Sunwiz and Solar Business Services say 18,000MW is conceivable by 2022. Continue reading
Port Augusta, South Australia, encouraged by government interest in solar thermal energy
Minister on solar thermal fact-finding tour http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-02/minister-on-solar-thermal-fact-finding-tour/4171960 August 02, 2012 South Australia’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Tom Koutsantonis, will travel to Nevada to research the viability of solar thermal energy. The Minister met solar thermal lobbyists and local government representatives in Port Augusta yesterday. He was given documentation showing the community’s support for the local power stations to be converted to the renewable source.
Mr Koutsantonis says the trip to the United States is to explore and clarify details of solar thermal energy. “We understand gas power generation, we understand coal power generation, we understand wind – in terms of renewable energy we’re
basically the epicentre of Australia,” he said. “If South Australia was a country in its own right we would be number
two in the world for renewable energy.”
Mr Koutsantonis says he is willing to lobby the Federal Government and Alinta Energy to invest in solar thermal.
Port Augusta Mayor Joy Baluch says she is pleased the State Government is supporting a conversion to solar thermal energy for local power stations and is learning more about how the technology works.
“Our conversation has been extremely encouraging to the fact that the Minister is going to Nevada personally to check out the existing and operating solar thermal plant,” she said.
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