https://www.afr.com/news/mike-cannonbrookes-campaign-to-reclaim-fair-dinkum-power-swamped-20181101-h17eaq – Mike Cannon-Brookes’ campaign to reclaim the phrase “fair dinkum power” from Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been swamped with offers of support, and the Atlassian billionaire is in the process of registering a trademark for a logo to promote renewable energy.
Mr Cannon-Brookes said he had had hundreds of tweets and emails expressing support and even offering donations since starting the campaign on Wednesday, but was funding the exercise himself.
He is exploring options for licensing the logo – a green power plug connected to a leaf with the words “FAIR DINKUM POWER” that emerged from an online competition – through the creative commons so people can use it without paying a licence fee.
He would not comment on whether there has been any contact with the Prime Minister’s office 24 hours after launching his campaign on Twitter out of frustration and anger with what he calls Mr Morrison’s dishonest appropriation of the words “fair dinkum power”.
Mr Morrison has defined the expression to mean power that can be switched on and off at will when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining but critics say this is just code for extending the life of old coal power stations or even building new ones – something no power investor has done for more than 10 years.
Like ‘Heart Foundation’ sticker
Mr Cannon-Brookes said he envisaged the logo being “like a Heart Foundation sticker” or something people can put on T-shirts, bumper bars or home batteries and solar panels to promote renewable energy and try to shift the Morrison government’s narrative from its pro-fossil fuels stance.
He said this was hypocritical given that the government’s own power company Snowy Hydro had decided to double its rollout of wind and solar energy because it is cheaper than hydro and can even undercut the operating cost of existing black coal power stations at current coal prices.
As an indication of how quickly the campaign is catching on, he said he was putting air in the tyres of his Tesla at a BP service station in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at 7.30 on Thursday morning on the school run – when a man yelled out, “That’s not fair dinkum power”, then let out a huge belly laugh and said, “Good on you.”
His end goal is to convince people that wind and solar energy are cheaper than coal or gas or hydro energy and his vision, or “life mission”, is for Australia to be “200 per cent renewable energy powered” – in other words, to export as much energy as it consumes, all from renewable sources.
“It’s a bit of a life mission for me and I’m determined to see us get there,” Mr Cannon-Brookes told The Australian Financial Review. “I do think it’s the biggest economic opportunity for our generation, and it’s amazing that we do not talk more about it.”
More sun, wind and hydro
He said Australia had more wind, sun and hydro resources than fossil fuels in the ground but “we never talk about it that way” and the Minerals Council of Australia never mentions the solar resources that the nation is blessed with.
“I don’t think the politicians are being honest when they tell you that coal is cheaper and it’s factually not true.”
He revealed the logo for the campaign on Channel Ten’s The Project on Thursday evening and said he was appearing on the show because “I have got to take every opportunity I can to convince the broader population that renewables are cheaper”.
The trademark application is already under way and the Atlassian co-founder is seeking advice on how the creative commons licensing system can be used to allow people to use the logo to promote renewable energy while restricting its use for non-approved commercial use – for example to promote so-called “clean coal”.
November 3, 2018
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Sensible electricity rules await the next government, Brisbane Times By Ross Gittins, 28 October 2018 You can call it populism or you can call it desperation. In the case of Scott Morrison’s recent problem-solving efforts, desperation fits better. And wouldn’t you be?
Morrison is probably right in concluding it’s too late in the piece to be worried about carefully considered, long-lasting solutions to the many problems contributing to his government’s unpopularity………
Morrison has an election to avoid losing. If Tony Abbott hadn’t greatly compounded the problem by abolishing the carbon tax, you could feel a bit sorry for Morrison. The monumental stuff-up of the move to a national electricity market, with its price blowouts at every level – generation, transmission and distribution, and retail – was decades in the making.
Only with the doubling of retail prices over the past decade has realisation dawned that the federalgovernment can’t escape ultimate political responsibility for a “national” market run by a squabbling committee of state and territory energy ministers.
But Morrison’s announcement last week of a desperate collection of good, bad and indifferent measures to get retail prices down in a hurry – or at least appear to be getting them down – seems no better than a crude attempt to bludgeon some quick retail price cuts out of the three oligopolists that have come to dominate the market.
As was powerfully demonstrated by the events leading to the overthrow of Malcolm Turnbull, no government whose members can’t agree that the threat of climate change is real is capable of achieving a policy regime that restores a stable future for the energy industry. …….https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/the-economy/sensible-electricity-rules-await-the-next-government-20181028-p50cfq.html
October 28, 2018
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics |
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Natural Advantage,
14 years ago, Richard Turner rigged up a solar-powered battery to bring some modern convenience to his kids’ cubby house. In 2018, after an incredible journey, the business is ready to revolutionise the economy and transform our state’s prosperity.
City Mag, Joshua Fanning, 26 Oct 18 …….It’s 2018 and renewable energy has turned the corner.
Established in 2004 in South Australia, ZEN Energy was created by Richard to get solar powered battery storage into Australian homes.
In 2010 ZEN was the state’s fastest growing company. In 2012, BRW magazine wrote up ZEN as the fourth fastest growing company in the country.
This year, British billionaire industrialist Sanjeev Gupta bought 50.1 per cent of ZEN, creating the new entity SIMEC ZEN Energy as part of his plan to own the power supply to the Whyalla Steelworks – purchased in 2017.
Gupta’s plan for ZEN is simple: power the steelworks and the associated businesses nationally with the cheapest electricity available. And in 2018 the cheapest electricity available is renewable.
But cheap doesn’t come easy. ZEN Energy is only around for Sanjeev Gupta to invest in because a lot of hard work across many generations has come before it………..
Richard isn’t mad the State Government awarded Tesla the contract for the Hornsdale battery; in many ways the Tesla brand cleared the political path for action. Richard is more frustrated by the language and mindset of the state that seems – at so many levels – to believe it’s helpless.
Tech-billionaire batteries and steel factory saviours make good headlines – but ZEN Energy tells the far more credible story of this state’s ongoing industry, creativity and resilience.
It just so happens that ZEN Energy’s story starts in a cubby house in a suburban backyard.
Richard’s children Laura and James wanted to put a little light and TV in the cubby house to make it feel more homely and play later into the evening, and so Richard scooped the kids up into the car and headed for the local hobby shop to see what they could buy. The family bought a little solar panel, a regulator, a converter and a battery. Richard recalls the guy at the shop pulling out a whiteboard marker and writing Ohm’s Law on the shop’s whiteboard.
Watts = Volts x Amps.
Rigging up the system and flicking the switch, a light went on in Richard’s mind at the same time as he lit up his kid’s cubby house. There was a business here……….
“South Australia could be the Middle East of the new world,” says Richard.
The statement catches us off guard both in its simplicity and its severity.
“We’ve got the very best renewable energy generation resource in the world,” says Richard.
“We’ve got the best sun here. We’ve got the best wind here. We’ve got these unique wind patterns that come across the roaring forties, across the Australian Bight that split up and down the Eyre Peninsula. We have nearly two gigawatts of wind power here, and there’s bugger all in the rest of Australia.”
But it’s not the raw product Richard is referring to explicitly when he says South Australia could be the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. Richard is talking about the whole value chain of the renewable economy epitomised by Sanjeev’s GFG Alliance.
Liberty One Steel in Whyalla (as it has been renamed) and its associated heavy industry across the country will have massive demand for electricity. ZEN will be the clean, green and low-cost energy supply. Off the back of our natural and renewable resources, Richard forecasts radical change in the fortunes of this state.
“When we produce the very lowest cost of power you’re going to have all this new industry evolve. All these traditional industries will revive and gravitate to the region and will employ five times as many people as you employed in a coal-fired power station,” says Richard.
Whyalla – a town built for 100,000 people – has never had more than a quarter of that live there. “We can see, in five years, there’ll be close to 100,000 in Whyalla,” says Richard.
And with low-cost energy we can start to refine – not just mine.
Richard skips from the lithium to graphite reserves of Australia (graphite makes up lithium ion batteries 30 per cent by weight). He speaks with vigour about our clean hydrogen future – hydrogen being a huge and growing fuel source for the energy intensive economies of Korea and Japan who don’t have the renewable energy resources of South Australia.
Sanjeev Gupta will build cars in Australia – electric vehicles – Richard confirms. They’ll be built in either Victoria or South Australia. Regardless of where the cars are built, Richard says, “all the car metals and composite materials will come out of our own factories, powered by the natural energy of the sun”.
Within three-to-five years, renewables will become the dominant energy source in Australia – with coal and gas very much playing a secondary role to fill gaps in energy supply until new hydro facilities come online. Vast arrays of batteries will support critical areas prone to power fluctuations and the national energy regulator AEMO has committed to running immediate pilot programs in the worst affected areas.
Grid scale batteries will reduce severe outages by kicking into action microseconds after a power fluctuation occurs, effectively stabilising the grid. The stability these batteries will create is already causing the industry to predict electricity prices to fall by up to 30 per cent next year.
From bottom of the ladder in the old fossil-fuel energy system, South Australia is set to jump to the top in the new, renewable energy economy. And while the headlines published in our daily paper may continue to put us down, the story of this next stage in our state’s history is far more fantastic.
“South Australia is going to have the most abundant, stable electricity production centre in Australia and probably on earth,” says Richard – a fifth generation South Australian. “In years to come you won’t want to be protecting SA’s power – you’ll be exporting it both interstate and around the world.” https://citymag.indaily.com.au/habits/power/natural-advantage/?fbclid=IwAR0pgkI1MFhRalb81RPawsieK-NCgyYLxAYyqGNo0aGKsnC-SQcSMvvmBc4
October 27, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
solar, South Australia |
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Institute of Public Affairs blasts Coalition’s ‘un-Liberal’ energy policies. IPA’s John Roskam says government should ‘stop all subsidies to coal, wind and anything else’ Paul Karp @Paul_Karp, 27 Oct 2018 The Institute of Public Affairs has blasted the Morrison government’s “big stick” in energy policy – a threat to break up energy companies in a bid to lower prices – accusing it of breaching Liberal values and endangering investment.
The IPA executive director, John Roskam, told Guardian Australia that “heavy-handed intervention” was “positively un-Liberal” and would open the door for Labor to campaign on policies bashing big businesses – which are “simply responding to the policy settings the government itself has created” to make a profit.
Roskam also warned against any form of subsidy for electricity generation including renewables subsidies, underwriting new power generation and indemnifying coal power against a possible future carbon price.
The intervention from the influential rightwing thinktank exposes divisions in the conservative side of politics on energy policy. Some, including MP Craig Kelly and former prime minister Tony Abbott, have called for an end to renewable subsidies and withdrawal from the Paris agreement, in line with demands from the IPA.
The Morrison government has indicated it wants to preserve popular solar subsidies and to stay in Paris while it pushes ahead with competition measures to lower price in the absence of a policy to reduce emissions by 2030.
Roskam said breaking up energy companies “continues the trend of targeting particular industries” as the Coalition did with the bank tax in the 2017 budget and would “further confuse Australians” about what it stands for.
“The idea that the government would determine the shape and size of the industry in this way cuts across every principle of the Liberal party,” he said. “If you want a guarantee that nobody will ever invest in Australia again, this is how you do it.”
The Coalition has promised policies to encourage new generation – including providing a floor price, contracts for difference and government loans – and has not ruled out using those measures to support new coal-fired power stations.
The energy minister, Angus Taylor, has said the government should address investors’ concerns about “political risks”, in a sign it could also indemnify coal power against future emissions reduction policies such as a carbon price. Taylor has also said there is “no plan” to change the small-scale renewable energy scheme.
Roskam said the government should “stop all subsidies to coal, wind and anything else” because “picking winners should be an anathema to the Liberal party”.
Although the IPA wants to see more coal power, Roskam said the government should “reduce the regulatory barriers to them being funded”, not keep the barriers and overcome them with subsidies……
……. Roskam said the Liberal Party is “hopelessly conflicted on climate change” and “riven down the middle”…….
Despite the suggestion emissions and price reductions are incompatible, renewables are forecast to lower prices while coal subsidies would increase energy costs…… https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/27/institute-of-public-affairs-blasts-coalitions-un-liberal-energy-policies
October 27, 2018
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REneweconomy Giles Parkinson, 22 October 2018 The rapidly emerging large scale solar sector achieved a significant milestone on Sunday, October 21, when their combined output in the National Electricity Market broke through the 1GW barrier for what is believed to be the first time.According to this graph below [on original] sent to us by Mike Hudson, using data he sourced from the Australian Energy Market Operator, the 1GW level was first breached in mid morning, and continued until almost 3pm in the afternoon.
October 21, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, solar |
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Victoria’s largest solar farm goes ahead after “solving” connection  dilemma, REneweconomy, Giles Parkinson, 16 October 2018 The 200MW Kiamal solar farm in Victoria – the largest in the state to date – will be officially launched on Wednesday and begin construction this month after developer Total Eren says it has resolved connection issues that had already delayed the $300 million project.The Kiamal solar farm is located near the town of Ouyen – not far from Mildura in the state’s north west. But as RenewEconomy revealed in May, it is located in what could be described as the “rhombus of death”, a part of the network that doesn’t have the “system strength” to accommodate all the wind and solar projects planned for the area.
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October 16, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
solar, Victoria |
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Climate right for solar plan: Reynolds, HOBART residents and businesses would be able to install solar energy systems with no upfront costs under an initiative proposed by mayoral candidate Anna Reynolds. HELEN KEMPTON, news.com.au Sunday Tasmanian OCTOBER 14, 2018
HOBART residents and businesses would be able to install solar energy systems with no upfront costs under an initiative proposed by mayoral candidate Anna Reynolds.
Ald Reynolds says the city should strive to double solar installations over the next five years.
Hobart is a poor performer compared with other Tasmanian local government areas with Sustainable Living Tasmania figures placing it 16th in terms of solar installations per capita.
“Council has taken action to install solar panels on its own buildings but there is so much more we can do,” Ald Reynolds said.
“I will advocate for a solar saver program to help Hobart residents, businesses and organisations install solar panels.
“Council will pay the upfront cost for the system and you, or your landlord, pay it off over 10 years, interest free.
“The savings made on energy bills will more than outweigh the payments to council, leaving you better off.”
The independent candidate’s push is backed by the chief strategist of climate advocacy group 350 Australia……..https://www.news.com.au/national/tasmania/climate-right-for-solar-plan-reynolds/news-story/1aa9c5761666dbbb411a35f424b0c8a0
October 15, 2018
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solar, Tasmania |
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news.com.au , 10 Oct 18, IT WAS Australia’s big hope for cutting your electricity bills and ending the climate wars but today it’s been confirmed that’s not going to happen. EVERYONE has been crying out for the major parties to agree on an energy policy for Australia but it’s becoming clear this is probably not going to happen.
At an energy forum being held in Sydney today, new Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor dismissed suggestions a bipartisan agreement was the way forward and pointed to the huge difference in the policies of the major parties.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get bipartisanship given we have a 26 per cent emissions reduction target … and the other side has 45 per cent,” Mr Taylor told the AFR Energy Forum 2018.
Australia’s energy policy is in tatters after the National Energy Guarantee was abandoned by the Coalition after Malcolm Turnbull lost the prime ministership.
Now even Labor’s shadow minister for climate change and energy Mark Butler has acknowledged defeat. Speaking after Mr Taylor, he said the idea of developing a bipartisan “market mechanism” to address climate and energy policy would not happen.
“We need to recognise that the solution we’ve been banking on now for a number of years … has been snatched away,” he told the forum.
“They (the Coalition) have walked away from the table because they’ve said they can’t countenance any agreement with Labor over climate and energy policy.”
Mr Butler noted the two parties got close in 2016 with the emissions intensity scheme, then again in 2017 with the clean energy target and most recently with the NEG this year, but each time the policies were taken off the table largely due to revolt within the Coalition party room led by Tony Abbott, despite the policies having broad support among state and territory governments as well as the business community.
“Now we confront a position … where investors are left with no rules to guide their investment decisions once the renewable energy target starts to taper off in coming months.”
As Australia heads towards its next federal election — likely to be held next year — Mr Butler noted there were warnings electricity prices would rise if the NEG was not passed and the futures market was already predicting hikes next year.
But he acknowledged there was no quick fix and said getting the unit price of electricity would be difficult. He said Labor would focus on policies to reduce consumption as a way of lowering bills. It has already announced plans to help businesses with tax write-offs for capital upgrades and software to make them more energy efficient.
He said Australia’s energy efficiency and productivity was already lower than average compared to some other OECD countries and China, which haven’t enjoyed low prices in the past like Australia has.
“The pathway for really substantial reductions to energy bills for business and households, I think, lie more in an aggressive approach to energy efficiency and productivity,” Mr Butler said.
When it comes to the Coalition’s approach, Mr Taylor said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had given him one KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and that was to lower power prices while keeping the lights on………
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/australias-energy-solution-has-been-snatched-away/news-story/2fe7777c47e785a94bcc621e6a62ede4
October 11, 2018
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https://www.sbs.com.au/news/renewable-subsidies-phased-out-by-2030 Labor leader Bill Shorten says coal will be part of Australia’s energy mix for the foreseeable future, but wants renewable energy to be more accessible.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says a lack of policy is preventing Australia from becoming a renewable energy superpower, but admits coal will be part of the mix for the foreseeable future.
“What we need to do is create investment certainty, write out what the rules are so we can get more renewable energy,” he told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Renewable energy “is getting cheaper and I want to make it more accessible to small business and consumers.”
October 11, 2018
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics |
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Electric cars would save lives and cut costs, but Australians ‘risk being left behind’, SMH, By Nicole Hasham
6 October 2018 Deaths from air pollution would be prevented and the Morrison government would meet its pledge to make electricity more reliable and affordable if more Australians drove electric cars, but a lack of political will is holding back the benefits.That is the widespread view expressed to a Senate probe into electric vehicles in Australia. Electric car maker Tesla, headed by controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is among those who assert that “government leadership” is the main barrier to increasing electric vehicle uptake in Australia, while the government’s own infrastructure adviser warned that Australians “risk being left behind” in the global transition.
Australia trails the world in the adoption of electric vehicles. Just 2284 were sold last year – 0.2 per cent of total vehicle sales. This is largely attributed to a lack of vehicle choice, fears about limited driving range and higher upfront costs than traditional cars.
In contrast, electric vehicles make up about 20 per cent of new sales in Norway, and are expected to reach 30 per cent of sales in China by 2030.
The Senate inquiry, chaired by independent South Australian senator Tim Storer, is investigating the benefits and opportunities of electric vehicles in Australia.
It is broadly acknowledged that electric vehicles improve air quality, help address climate change, boost public health and are cheaper to run than conventional vehicles.
……The Morrison government said these two outcomes – making electricity more reliable and affordable – would be its “unrelenting” focus following the demise of the National Energy Guarantee. However the government provided only limited support for electric-vehicle adoption.
Tesla told the inquiry that thousands of Australians had placed deposits for its model 3 sedan and research showed 50 per cent of Australians would consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase.
But it said governments must help ensure Australians could access charging infrastructure and a wide range of vehicle models, and reduce financial and logistical hurdles.
“The main barrier to increasing electric vehicle uptake in Australia is not consumer appetite; rather it is clear government leadership,” Tesla wrote.
Tesla said the Morrison government should set an ambitious target for electric vehicle uptake to send a clear message to manufacturers and consumers that Australia was ready for the transition.
The NRMA, ClimateWorks and the Electric Vehicle Council also called on governments to act to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles in various ways, such as implementing vehicle emissions standards, supporting the establishment of charging infrastructure and setting targets for government fleets. ……
October 8, 2018
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics |
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‘Renewables capital of Australia’? Port Augusta shows off its green energy credentials, ABC
By Stephen Long, 5 Oct 18 “………
Renewables boom boosts Port Augusta
Thirteen renewable energy projects are underway or under consideration — from wind farms and pumped hydro-electric power to solar with storage that can shift electricity made when the sun’s shining to meet peak demand in the evening.
“The one great resource we have here in Port Augusta and the upper Spencer Gulf is this wonderful natural resource called the sun,” Mr Johnson said.
“It’s no different to having a massive uranium deposit, a massive gold deposit, a massive copper deposit.”
In a country drenched in sun, this natural resource is particularly abundant in the arid landscape around Port Augusta, and there are also plenty of flat expanses on which to build the facilities needed to exploit it.
Framed by the Flinders Ranges, stage one of the Bungala solar farm stretches over 300 hectares of land owned by the Bungala Aboriginal Corporation about 10 kilometres north-east of town.
Bungala uses a solar photovoltaic technology, with panels mounted on a tilting axis that can follow the sun’s path from east to west, maximising output and efficiency.
“It’s not only the largest solar project in Australia,” Mr Johnson said. “It’s also the largest in the southern hemisphere. And it’s only half complete.”
When stage two is complete, the entire project will cover more than 800 hectares — an expanse nearly as big as the Melbourne CBD — and generate up to 570 gigawatt hours of electricity a year, enough to power about 82,000 households, according to its owners, Italian multinational Enel Green Power and the Dutch Infrastructure Fund.
“Note that the Northern Power Station, when it was operating, was only producing between 500 and 540 megawatts,” Mr Johnson said.
“Obviously, it was operating 24-7, while the solar plant will only operate when the sun is shining, but when you start to incorporate battery storage and solar thermal, you then build in the energy security.”
Solar that releases energy even when the sun doesn’t shine
The Aurora project about 30 kilometres north-west of Port Augusta addresses the criticism often levelled at renewable energy — that when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow, the power doesn’t flow.
Construction is due to start soon on the concentrated solar thermal power station. It will able to store a massive 1,100 megawatt-hours of electricity, according to the project proponent, SolarReserve.
When it is built, an impressive sight will greet observers: a tower full of molten salt standing about 250 metres high, surrounded by more than 10,000 heliostats — movable mirrors, the size of billboards, algorithmically programmed to track the sun.
Those thousands of mirrors will reflect and concentrate sunlight, beaming it onto a receiver straddling the top of the tower.
During the day, molten salt will flow through the receiver and be heated to temperatures as high as 566 degrees Celsius, then stored in tanks overnight.
The energy will be dispatchable as electricity when needed — after dark in the evening peaks, or in the morning, hours after it was generated. It will be enough energy to power 90,000 homes, according to SolarReserve, which wants to build six of these plants in South Australia.
Crescent Dunes in the Nevada desert uses an identical technology.
There is one key difference: the price of the power.
“Pricing has come down dramatically, as it has throughout the renewable energy industry,” Kevin Smith, the chief executive of SolarReserve, said.
Crescent Dunes, the first plant of its kind, began operating in 2014.
Construction was aided by a concessional loan of $US737 million ($1,040 million) from the US Department of Energy. Despite that subsidy, it was contracted to supply electricity to Nevada at $190 a megawatt hour. Not cheap.
The Aurora project is receiving a much smaller concessional loan from the Australian Government — about $110 million — but will supply energy at a fraction of the price.
SolarReserve is cagey about the precise figure (the contractual conditions are complex) but Mr Smith agreed with reports that put the cost at about $78 a megawatt hour.
At current exchange rates, that is well under half the price of electricity from its inaugural plant in the US — and far cheaper than new coal-fired power.
“In terms of cents per kilowatt hour, we can supply electricity 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than new-build coal,” Mr Smith maintained.
A town blanketed in ash
Coal used to be Port Augusta’s lifeblood………
“We have incredible geography. We have everything we need to become the renewables capital of the world.”
An exaggeration? Maybe, but it’s not far off the mark.
The arid-zone landscape of the upper Spencer Gulf has solar resources ideally suited for concentrating solar thermal power, wind in abundance at speeds well suited for turbines, and a coastal location that opens the possibility of pumped hydro energy using seawater.
What you won’t find are fields of fruit and vegetables — but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
That white beacon of light on the edge of town? It’s a solar thermal power plant that runs a massive greenhouse that grows truss tomatoes.
Sundrop Farm is using the solar thermal electricity to desalinate water, create electricity to power the operation, and pump heat through 60 kilometres of pipe around the vines.
It’s a testament to human ingenuity, like much of what’s happening in the renewal of Port Augusta. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-05/port-augusta-becomes-australian-renewable-energy-hub/10338812
October 6, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy, South Australia |
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REneweconomy Giles Parkinson3 October 2018 The Australian Greens are proposing to create up to 30 special renewable energy zones across Australia, backed by a $2.8 billon grid transformation fund to help drive the transition towards 100 per cent renewables.
The plan, outlined by energy and climate spokesperson Adam Bandt as the All Energy conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, would see renewable energy zones located across the country – from the Pilbara in the north west of Western Australia to the best wind and solar resource areas on the east coast.
“Australia’s grid is still largely a set of wires out to coal mines. Government now needs to build the grid out to where the sun shines and the wind blows,” Bandt said in his prepared speech.Renewable energy is the cheapest form of electricity. With the right policy, Australia can become a renewable energy superpower,” also noting the potential for significant exports of renewables, either through carrying technologies such as hydrogen or direct links to Asia.
The Greens policy builds on the draft Integrated System Plan presented by the Australian Energy Market Operator, where most of the REZs are identified. However, the Greens fear that that current institutional arrangements may be inadequate to drive the energy transition at the scale and speed required. They aim for 100 per cent renewables, whereas the ISP envisages a share of 46 per cent (business as usual) by 2030 or more than 60 per cent if Labor’s policies are put into action.
“The Greens’ approach is focused on the public interest, so the network operator advises on how to build a grid to get us to 100% renewables,” Bandt said.
“The government assesses the proposal with a view to supporting coal-fired power station areas through the transition, and we then build the grid for the lowest possible cost as a public good, enabling new public and private renewables generation to come online.”
“I am worried that the potential of REZs and AEMO’s ‘Integrated System Plan’ will be squandered unless federal government grabs the issue by the scruff of the neck and starts building the network in the public interest.”
The proposal is the latest in a series of public interventions proposed by The Greens, including the creation of a public not-for-profit owned by the government and regulation of prices………
“The Greens are the only Federal party with a policy to construct and deliver renewable energy zones across the country, which will deliver a surge in new renewable energy construction.” https://reneweconomy.com.au/greens-propose-30-renewable-energy-zones-backed-by-grid-fund-30594/
October 3, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics |
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Green Energy Markets predicts more than 6,000 annual jobs will be created but urges federal policy intervention, Guardian, Calla Wahlquist @callapilla 2 Oct 2018 The renewable energy construction boom in Victoria is on track to create more than 6,000 annual jobs, according to a new analysis.
As of August 2018, large-scale wind and solar projects under construction in Victoria had created 5,169 job years of employment – meaning one person working full time for one year – overtaking Queensland with 5,156, according to an analysis by Green Energy Markets released by GetUp on Tuesday.
When the remainder of the projects greenlit under Victoria’s renewable energy auction come online, job years of employment will increase to 6,072.
Victoria has 26 operational large-scale wind and solar projects, 12 under construction and 28 with planning approval.
But the Green Energy Markets director of analysis, Tristan Edis, said that without federal policy intervention the construction boom would being tapering off in 2020, because the large-scale generation certificates scheme would be over-supplied.
Renewable energy made up 25.5% of the electricity fed into the major east and west coast power grids in August, enough to power 12.1m homes, the report said.
As of August there were another 6,184MW of new large-scale renewable energy projects under construction, creating 15,511 jobs, the bulk of which were in Queensland and Victoria. Wind generation accounted for 54% of the new projects and the remainder were large-scale solar……..
Victoria and Queensland also on track to meet their state-based renewable energy generations targets of 40% and 50% respectively by 2030.
Victorian environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the construction jobs were the product of a record investment in renewable energy and that investment would be under threat if the Coalition won the state election next month.
NSW currently leads the number of jobs in the rooftop solar installation industry, followed by Queensland, Victoria and WA, although jobs in rooftop solar in Victoria are forecast to increase due to its $2250 solar panel rebate.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/01/victorias-renewable-energy-boom-set-to-create-thousands-of-jobs
October 3, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, employment, energy |
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Kidston renewable energy hub one step closer, REneweconomy, Queensland Government, 28 September 2018 Genex Power’s Kidston Renewable Energy Hub in Far North Queensland has been fast tracked with the $330 million Kidston Pumped Hydro Storage project (K2H) today declared a coordinated project.Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the project, located at the decommissioned Kidston Gold Mine within Etheridge Shire, proposes an innovative use of two existing adjacent water-filled mine pits to generate hydroelectricity.
“If approved, the project could employ 370 people during the two-year construction and have a minimum lifespan of 50 years,” he said.
“When complete, Stages 1 and 2 of the Kidston Renewable Energy Hub will provide enough energy to power around 160,000 Australian homes – enough power for a city bigger than Cairns.
“Stage 1 alone will produce enough power to supply more than 26,000 Australian homes, offsetting 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and remove 33,000 cars off Australian roads.
“Genex has set a strong mandate to provide local residents with job opportunities, whether that be direct on-site employment, consultancy or indirect contract work.
“This renewable energy project has the ability to revitalise the local economy and I commend Genex on making sure locals benefit from the project……..
The Kidston Renewable Energy Hub comprises:
Stage 1 solar power project (50 MW) which has been constructed
Stage 2 proposed new solar project (270 MW) to integrate with the K2H project (250 MW) currently undergoing assessment
Stage 3 wind farm project (150 MW) which is in the feasibility stage.
Energy generated by Stage 2 (combined solar and hydro) will be via a new transmission line connecting the Kidston site to Mount Fox, near Ingham…….
Mr Dick said the introduction of large-scale, low-cost flexible energy storage also provides another solution to Queensland’s growing power requirements.
If approved construction is due to commence in 2019 and expected to be completed by 2021.
For more information visit: www.dsdmip.qld.gov.au/kidstonhydro https://reneweconomy.com.au/kidston-renewable-energy-hub-one-step-closer-34630/
October 3, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy, Queensland |
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