In Australia solar farm approvals and record rooftop installations expected to ‘turbo-boost’ production
Australia’s solar power boom could almost double capacity in a year, analysts say https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/11/australias-solar-power-boom-could-almost-double-capacity-in-a-year-analysts-say
Solar farm approvals and record rooftop installations expected to ‘turbo-boost’ production, Guardian, Naaman Zhou, 11 Feb 18
A record-breaking month of rooftop installations and a flood of large-scale solar farms could almost double Australia’s solar power capacity in a single year, industry analysts say.
A massive solar energy boom is being predicted for 2018, after an unprecedented number of industrial solar farms were approved by the New South Wales and Queensland governments last year.
Last month also became the biggest January on record for rooftop installations, according to the renewables website RenewEconomy and industry analysts SunWiz
With 111MW of new panels, it saw a 69% rise compared with the same month last year and became one of the top five months ever – largely driven by low installation costs and a boost in commercial uptake.
At the same time, nearly 30 new industrial solar farms are scheduled to come on line.
NSW approved 10 solar farm projects last year – twice as many as the year before – and has approved another in 2018. Queensland currently has 18 large-scale projects under construction, which is the most in the country.
The new farms could be operational within the year, according to John Grimes, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council.
“These solar farms can be built within a matter of weeks,” he said. “They’re really quick and simple.”
Together, the new large-scale projects could add between 2.5GW and 3.5GW to the national grid and rooftop installations could add another 1.3GW, according to the Smart Energy Council’s estimates. This would nearly double the nation’s solar energy capacity, currently 7GW, in a single year.
“The train tracks are about to converge,” Grimes said. “Rooftop installations and utilities are both booming and could turbo-boost the solar numbers overall.”
In Queensland, residential solar panels are already the state’s largest source of energy, producing more combined than the 1.7GW Gladstone power station. Just under a third (30%) of residential homes in the state have solar installed – the most in the country.
With the completion of the new solar farms, solar will provide 17% of the state’s energy. “We’ve turned the sunshine state into the solar state,” Queensland’s former energy minister Mark Bailey said in October.
In New South Wales, the planning minister, Anthony Roberts, said the 10
new solar farms would generate 1.2GW of energy and reduce carbon emissions by more than 2.5m tonnes – the equivalent of taking about 800,000 cars off the road.
Grimes said the solar boom “was only going to grow” in future.
“Solar is the cheapest way to generate electricity in the world – full stop,” he said. “It’s not unusual for grid pricing to be north of 20c per kilowatt hour in a majority of jurisdicitions. A solar array, at an average size for an average home, if you amortise the cost over 20 years, the effective rate is 5c per kilowatt hour. That’s called an economic no-brainer.”
He said the rush to install rooftop panels could have been sparked by January’s warm weather and rising energy prices.
“I think people are acutely aware of energy prices. People are running air conditioning and thinking, ‘hooley dooley I’m going to get a bill’.”
2017 saw a record 1.25GW of solar power added to the grid nationally, counting both large-scale solar farms and rooftop panels. The predicted rate of rooftop panels alone in 2018 is expected to be 1.3GW.
New South Wales Liberal Premier Berejiklian is approving a solar energy revolution
Solar ‘tsunami’ coming in Australia as NSW accelerates approvals http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/solar-tsunami-coming-in-australia-as-nsw-accelerates-approvals-20180207-p4yzl1.html, Peter Hannam, Cole LatimerThe Berejiklian government has approved 11 large-scale solar energy plants in the past 12 months, clearing the way for NSW to join a “tsunami” of new renewable energy capacity across the nation.
The 170-megawatt Finley Solar Project in the Riverina, which will include half a million solar panels, is the first to get approval in 2018.
The 10 to get the go-ahead in 2017 doubled the number in the previous year, and alone supported 1800 construction jobs, Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said.
Those 10 “collectively reduce carbon emissions by over 2.5 million tonnes, which is equivalent to taking around 800,000 cars off the road”, he said.
NSW had more renewable generation capacity under construction than any other state, Energy Minister Don Harwin said.
John Grimes, chief executive of the Smart Energy Council, a group promoting solar energy and storage, described the acceleration of solar approvals in NSW as “fantastic”. The Coalition-led state government was “one conservative group that’s not working against renewables, and that’s got to be good thing”, Mr Grimes said.
In 2017, large-scale and roof-top solar added about 1.3 gigawatts nationally, a record for the industry.
On current trends, roof-top panels could alone add 1.4 GW of new capacity this year, with solar farms soaring by 2.5-3.5 GW, the Smart Energy Council estimates.
Together the 2018 tally may come close to doubling existing capacity in a single year as firms rush to supply the Renewable Energy Target that has to be filled by 2020.
“We’re about to get this giant, enormous tsunami, and nobody knows about it,” Mr Grimes said. “Wind [energy] used to be big and solar was small – now solar’s big, and wind is small.”
Officials in various approval agencies are struggling to keep up with approvals as companies flood them with applications, he said.
“With some of the best sunshine anywhere in the world and lots of good locations available, it is not surprising that NSW is up there with Queensland as one of the national frontrunners for new large-scale solar power projects,” Kane Thornton, chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, said.
At present, Queensland is ahead of NSW in terms of projects with finance or under construction, although the two states have similar numbers of approved ventures.
Renewable energy projects to be built under the Renewable Energy Target in the next couple of years add up to more power than the original Snowy Hydro project, which took a quarter of a century to complete, Mr Thornton said.
Solar projects can typically be developed, approved and built faster than wind ventures.
“And with the cost of new solar power continuing to plunge, they can also be built for a very competitive price which is substantially lower than either new coal or new gas,” Mr Thornton said.
An example of other states’ development includes a plan by Tilt Renewables to spend almost $500 million to integrate two projects – a solar farm and battery venture, and a 300-megawatt, pumped hydro storage project in a disused quarry – with its wind farm interests in South Australia.
Tilt’s $90 million Snowtown North solar and storage project includes a 180,000-panel farm with 44-MW capacity and a 26 MW-hour battery. It is forecast to have an operational life of around 25 years and offset around 85,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent.
“By combining wind energy – with typically an evening peak at this site – and solar energy with a daytime peak, the two assets can combine to better match daily electricity demands,” Tilt chief executive Deion Campbell said, adding that “with the battery reducing the effect of short-term variability from the two renewable generation technologies”.
One area where NSW is a relative laggard is the penetration of rooftop solar, with roughly half the 30 per cent rate of South Australia and Queensland. “There’s a lot of ground to make up,” Mr Grimes said.
Beyond the big solar farms, though, is a jump in demand from companies looking to install smaller systems – such as between 400 kilowatt to 10 MW capacity – without power purchase agreements to offset the output.
“They are doing it to offset their own electricity use” and to get price certainty, Mr Grimes said.
Australia’s geographic diversity provides reliability for renewable energy – Pat Conroy MP
Steve Dale Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia, 7 Feb 18
South Australia’s new solar energy plan – an international first
Reuters 4th Feb 2018, South Australia’s state premier Jay Weatherill announced a plan on Sunday to create a network of 50,000 home solar systems backed by Tesla Powerwall batteries, ahead of a state election in March.
“We lead the world in renewable energy with the world’s largest battery, the world’s largest solar thermal plant and now the world’s largest virtual power plant,” he said in a televised interview from the state capital of Adelaide. “The size of it is the reason why it’s going to be a success.” The project would begin with a trial on 1,100 public housing homes, the government said on its website.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-power-tesla/south-australia-promises-worlds-largest-virtual-power-plant-idUKKBN1FO029?rpc=401&
Women take the lead in Australia’s energy revolution
Changing the face of energy, The Age, Cole Latimer , 7 Jan 18 Australia’s energy sector and National Electricity Market is undergoing the largest transition in its history, both in the makeup of the grid and the face of this change.
Leading the char7bringing their experience in the utilities space and beyond to the fore as the energy sector sees industry-wide disruption.
- Unlike many industries in Australia, energy has a strong representation of women at the top levels.
Kerry Schott and Clare Savage at the Energy Security Board; Audrey Zibelman at the Australian Energy Market Operator; Paula Conboy at the Australian Energy Regulator, and Catherine Tanna at the helm of EnergyAustralia are just some of the women making an impact at the heights of Australia’s energy sector………
- Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman said while she didn’t start in energy, she cut her teeth in renewables and soon expanded that experience to revolutionise New York’s public service utilities and bring reform to the industry.
Ms Zibelman said she finds the space one where she can make a difference on a grand scale.
“Our job is providing public benefit, and the people who work in this space have a real public spirit, they love the challenge, what they do, and how it can have a huge impact,” she said.
“There are few opportunities – in other careers – to say you can impact so many people every day, all day. It’s hard to find any industry where you can find both [that public benefit and impact].”
Ms Zibelman believes that the current energy landscape is one in which women can thrive, as it faces its greatest challenge in its history.
“We’re seeing women increasingly taking roles in energy leadership,” she said.
“For myself, in general, we’re seeing an industry undergoing a massive change transition.
- “What I feel is that when it comes to women in energy leadership roles, we’re risk takers, and willing to challenge traditional thinking,” she said.
“Also, we’re collaborators, and women are able to create these social networks.”
Much like Audrey Zibelman, Energy Security chairman Board Kerry Schott didn’t start in the utility industry, but similar to Ms Zibelman, she has become one of Australia’s leading lights in this industry……….
- The one thing they all agreed on is the need to work towards greater efficiency in the energy space, both in terms of evolving the National Electricity Market and the way in which more renewables are introduced into Australia’s energy generation mix.
Ms Zibelman said Australia’s real focus ahead should be on how to create a more reliable system with variable generation, such as wind and solar, as well as hydro and demand response……..
- As these women helm the energy sector during its great transition, it sets a benchmark other Australian industries can follow. http://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace-relations/changing-the-face-of-energy-20171221-p4yxyv.html
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South Australia’s heatwave will not affect power supply
SA heatwave will not affect power supply, Treasurer says, as TDU amateur cyclists ignore warnings, ABC News 19 Jan 18, By political reporter Nick Harmsen and staff The South Australian Government is not expecting to use the state’s new backup diesel power generators despite temperatures well into the mid-40s forcing a tight power supply balance.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has issued a level two lack of reserve notice for the state late this afternoon, meaning there is a small buffer of surplus generation available.A level three notice means unexpected load shedding blackouts are likely.
The power supply situation is even tighter in Victoria — with AEMO flagging the possibility of curtailing power to some industrial customers who have volunteered to be part of a demand management scheme.
SA’s hottest temperature so far recorded today was a scorching 47.4 degrees Celsius at Wudinna on Eyre Peninsula.Port Augusta hit 46.5C, Whyalla reached 46.4C and Lameroo and Tarcoola both had tops of 46C.SA Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said while the state’s temporary generators were ready, they were unlikely to be used this afternoon.
“In terms of supply we should be okay,” he said.
“Victoria I understand is about to load shed industry. So they’re not coping with the power supply.
“They are a coal-dependent state and they are having to take industry offline to support their households. In South Australia we’re not having to do that today.”
In Adelaide today, the mercury climbed to 42.2C just after 12.30pm, after reaching a top of 41C yesterday and 38C on Wednesday……… State Emergency Service volunteers have handed out water at Adelaide Airport today and provided advice to international visitors to help them cope with extreme temperatures. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-19/sa-heatwave-will-not-affect-power-supply/9342306
Tesla’s South Australian battery project – a rapid success
Inverse Innovation 11th Jan 2018. The results are in: Tesla’s South Australian project, touted as the
world’s largest lithium-ion battery with enough energy to power 30,000
homes, had an astonishing first month of operation. The 100-megawatt
behemoth, originally conceived by Elon Musk through a bet over Twitter, has
inspired the states of Queensland and Victoria to follow suit with their
own projects.
https://www.inverse.com/article/40117-elon-musk-tesla-south-australia-batter
Australian banking giant Macquarie invests in energy storage system
Business Green 12th Jan 2018, Connected Energy has secured a £3m investment from Australian banking giant Macquarie and French utility ENGIE to support the rollout of its
stationary storage system, it announced yesterday. The E-STOR system
offered by Connected Energy uses second-hand batteries from electric
vehicles (EVs), repurposing them into an energy storage system to help
homes and businesses cut energy costs and manage their power use more
effectively.
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3024303/connected-energy-banks-gbp3m-investment-from-engie-and-macquarie
South Australia’s renewable energy powerhouses to come – Whyalla and Port Augusta
Whyalla and Port Augusta could be a renewables powerhouse, says local mayor, ABC North and West By Tom Rohde , 4 Jan 18
SA’s clean-energy projects
- A hybrid power station is being built at Coober Pedy. The hope is that the outback community can be powered solely by solar, wind and diesel energy
- Investors have funded a $300m solar battery-power plant at Roxby Downs
- A wind, solar and battery farm is planned at Crystal Brook in the state’s mid north
- A 100 megawatt solar powered facility is being built at Tailem Bend
- US-based company Solar Reserve is seeking federal support for a $650 million solar-thermal project in Port Augusta
- Zen Energy wants to build a solar power plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf
Whyalla Mayor Lyn Breuer said she hoped her city could team up with Port Augusta 80 kilometres away to make the plan a reality.
Regional South Australian cities have seen several energy projects announced over the past year, with construction on a new solar thermal power station in Port Augusta to start early this year.
In October last year, Whyalla steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta announced that he had approved a plan worth up to $700 million for solar, battery storage and pumped hydro, with 200 megawatts of solar photovoltaics at Whyalla……..
Port Augusta’s mayor Sam Johnson said he believed the region was already becoming a hub for renewable energy.
“Port Augusta will, and I believe actually is becoming the renewable capital of Australia and there’s no doubt that Whyalla is a direct link into that.
“There’s some really great synergies between Port Augusta and Whyalla in what’s becoming a new and exciting industry.”…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/sa-cities-could-become-australian-renewable-energy-centre/9306318
Micro grids taking off in a big way In Australia
Microgrids are in their early stages in Australia, but the country is swiftly taking a world-leading position, making the nation a renewable innovation hub.
Australian towns going off the grid http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/australian-towns-going-off-the-grid-20171219-p4yxvv.html, Cole Latimer, 3 Jan 17, Australia is facing an energy crisis. As prices rose to new highs last year and the ever-constant threat of blackouts hung over the east coast, many Australians looked for energy alternatives. Some turned to solar panels and battery storage technology to solve their bill woes, gain greater control of their own power and make a real change in terms of their impact on the climate.
While they are taking steps at the individual level, others are looking to take full advantage of the push for more renewable energy and shift away from centralised power systems on a larger scale.
This is seeing the rise of microgrids, a unique solution to a very Australian problem.
The vast distance covered by Australian energy distribution networks presents a serious problem: How do you get energy generated from point A to a user at point B, and how much will it cost?
Microgrids circumvent this issue by creating power and keeping it local, and at the same time lowering costs by cutting much of the associated distribution costs. Microgrids are autonomous energy distribution systems that can generate power from its users and operate off the main grid, or connect to existing grids, and support different generation assets and load demand.
This market is forecast to increase to more than $20 billion annually, with around half of all Australian homes expected to have rooftop solar panels installed, by 2024. Continue reading
22 December More REneweconomy News
RenewEconomy-
2020 RET in hand, with enough projects remaining to deliver 50% renewables2017 has been an impressive year for renewables, but ends with a major cloud hanging over it: what happens once the RET is sorted?
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First thoughts: Snowy 2.0 will lift emissions without more renewableSnowy 2.0 only makes sense if Australia has a much higher share of renewables than contemplated under the NEG.
22 December REneweconomy News
RenewEconomy-
Coalition, Labor, Greens and the future of energy in 2018We asked Josh Frydenberg, Mark Butler and Adam Bandt to share their predictions for 2018 and what’s important. This is what they said.
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After 8.3 million page views in 2017, we’re taking a short breakIt’s been a stellar year for news, readership, podcasts and feedback. We’d like to thank our readers and supporters. We’ll be back soon.
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Stockyard Hill wind farm locks in finance after setting record low priceThree local banks agree to finance 530MW Stockyard Hill wind project in western Victoria, validating its record low price for wind project in Australia.
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Telstra signs up for 429MW wind farm, at stunning low costTelstra, ANZ lead consortium to buy output from new 429MW wind farm, and lock in similar low price achieved by Origin earlier this year.
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Tesla big battery leaves rule-makers struggling to catch upTesla big battery’s dramatic intervention after Loy Yang trip, and a separate 0-100MW injection in just 140 milliseconds, illustrates yawning gap between technologies and market rules. The future is here, but market rule makers are not ready for it.
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Costs double for Turnbull’s Snowy 2.0 plan to push coal uphillSnowy 2.0 or Snow Job? Costs for Turnbull’s pet scheme more than double, the economics are kept secret, and project may do little more than use coal power to push water up hill unless Coalition seeks more wind and solar.
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Tesla, Trump, Turnbull and the troglodytes: The best stories of 2017The death spiral for cars; Tesla’s Big Battery – and electric truck; the two faces of Malcolm Turnbull; and all the other stories that caught our readers’ attention this year.
18 December REneweconomy News
- Ramping and duck curves Grid reliability and flexibility in the NEM would be much of an issue for the next few years except for the fact that the coal generation fleet is getting very old.
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New appointments to the clean energy finance corporation boardThe new appointments bring experience and skills in finance and investment, energy markets and corporate governance skills and add to the geographical diversity to the Board.
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CWP Asset Management to provide asset management services to two new Wirsol Energy solar farms in Australia CWP Asset Management has been awarded contracts by Wirsol Energy to provide asset management services to two new solar PV projects in Australia. The 110MW Wemen Solar Farm in Victoria and the 89MW Clermont Solar Farm in Queensland reached financial close yesterday, and will commence construction in January 2018. CWP’s Managing Director Alex Hewitt said “We’d like to congratulate Wirsol on the successful financing of these two large solar projects. We are really looking forward to working with the Wirsol team.“ CWP Asset Management will deliver services to these projects through its asset management team in Canberra, which manages 690 MW of wind and solar farms on behalf of project owners. “Our team in Canberra is growing very quickly, as we offer our experience and our capabilities to other renewable energy project owners, to maximise their project value and to provide a safe pair of hands for their investments” said Mr Hewitt. “Canberra is a great central location for providing asset management services nationally, and it is seeing the benefits of the ACT Government’s strong support for the renewable energy sector. We look forward to employing more Canberrans and to working with other renewable energy project owners nationally” said CWPs Head of Asset Management, Bill Filby.The 110MW Wemen Solar Farm in Victoria and the 89MW Clermont Solar Farm in Queensland reached financial close yesterday, and will commence construction in January 2018.
World’s first fully solar-powered train on the New South Wales North Coast
World-first solar train now leaving the platform in Byron Bay with zero emissions, ABC North Coast , By Bruce Mackenzie, 17 Dec 17, What is claimed to be the world’s first fully solar-powered train is operating on the New South Wales North Coast.
A refurbished 70-year-old ‘red rattler’ is running on a three-kilometre stretch of disused rail line at the popular tourist destination of Byron Bay.
It made its maiden trip yesterday with almost 100 passengers on board.
Electric bus solar system
The $4-million project is the brainchild of multi-millionaire businessman Brian Flannery, who owns a resort in the area.
“Hopefully it attracts people to Byron Bay,” Mr Flannery said.
“I think international tourists will come here to have a look at this world’s first solar train.
“So let’s see, in five years’ time they’ll probably still say I’m mad, but it’s a bit of fun.”
Tim Elderton, from the Lithgow Railway Workshop, was tasked with building curved solar panels and a battery system to power the train.
“Of course the major difference is it’s got solar panels on the roof so it can recharge itself.
“For those cloudy days we’ve also got 30 kilowatts of solar panels in this [station’s] roof here so we can also plug it in.
“On a sunny day like today we can do about four or five trips before we have to plug it in.”……..
Tram infrastructure a possibility
Longer trips than this one — 10 minutes to cover three kilometres or so — would require regular recharging stations along the route, but Mr Flannery said the technology might be suited to inner-city trams.
A lot of the tram networks of course have overhead wires and they’re electric but they’re powered off the grid from overhead,” he said.
“But in a case where you want to build a tramline without that infrastructure, I think you could.
“At various stations you could top the train [or tram] up.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/world-first-solar-train-the-brainchild-of-byron-bay-millionaire/9265522
How Sydney could become a zero-carbon city
Sydney’s closer to being a zero-carboncity than you think, The Conversation, You live in one of the sunniest countries in the world. You might want to use that solar advantage and harvest all this free energy. Knowing that solar panels are rapidly becoming cheaper and have become feasible even in less sunny places like the UK, this should be a no-brainer.
Despite this, the Australian government has taken a step backwards at a time when we should be thinking 30 years ahead.
Can we do it differently? Yes, we can! My ongoing research on sustainable urbanism makes it clear that if we use the available renewable resources in the Sydney region we do not need any fossil resource any more. We can become zero-carbon. (With Louisa King and Andy Van den Dobbelsteen, I have prepared a forthcoming paper, Towards Zero-Carbon Metropolitan Regions: The Example of Sydney, in the journal SASBE.)
Enough solar power for every household
Abundant solar energy is available in the Sydney metropolitan area. If 25% of the houses each installed 35 square metres of solar panels, this could deliver all the energy for the city’s households.
We conservatively estimate a total yield of 195kWh/m2 of PV panel placed on roofs or other horizontal surfaces. The potential area of all Sydney council precincts suited for PV is estimated at around 385km2 – a quarter of the entire roof surface.
We calculate the potential total solar yield at 75.1TWh, which is more than current domestic household energy use (65.3TWh, according to the Jemena energy company).
Wind turbines to drive a whole city
If we install small wind turbines on land and larger turbines offshore we can harvest enough energy to fuel our electric vehicle fleet. Onshore wind turbines of 1-5MW generating capacity can be positioned to capture the prevailing southwest and northeast winds.
The turbines are placed on top of ridges, making use of the funnel effect to increase their output. We estimate around 840km of ridge lines in the Sydney metropolitan area can be used for wind turbines, enabling a total of 1,400 turbines. The total potential generation from onshore wind turbines is 6.13TWh.
Offshore turbines could in principle be placed everywhere, as the wind strength is enough to create an efficient yield. The turbines are larger than the ones on shore, capturing 5-7.5MW each, and can be placed up to 30km offshore. With these boundary conditions, an offshore wind park 45km long and 6km wide is possible. The total offshore potential then is 5.18TWh.
Altogether, then, we estimate the Sydney wind energy potential at 11.3TWh.
Turning waste into biofuels
We can turn our household waste and green waste from forests, parks and public green spaces into biogas. We can then use the existing gas network to provide heating and cooling for the majority of offices………
Extracting heat from beneath the city
Shallow geothermal heat can be tapped through heat pumps and establishing closed loops in the soil. This can occur in large expanses of urban developments within the metropolitan area, which rests predominantly on deposits of Wianamatta shale in the west underlying Parramatta, Liverpool and Penrith.
Where large water surfaces are available, such as in Botany Bay or the Prospect Reservoir, heat can also be harvested from the water body…….
Hydropower from multiple sources
The potential sources of energy from hydro generation are diverse. Tidal energy can be harvested at the entrances of Sydney Harbour Bay and Botany Bay, where tidal differences are expected to be highest………
Master plan for a zero-carbon city
All these potential energy sources are integrated into our Master Plan for a Zero-Carbon Sydney. Each has led to design propositions that together can create a zero-carbon city.
The research shows there is enough, more than enough, potential reliable renewable energy to supply every household and industry in the region. What is needed is an awareness that Australia could be a global frontrunner in innovative energy policy, instead of a laggard. https://theconversation.com/sydneys-closer-to-being-a-zero-carbon-city-than-you-think-85976
1 This month
4 November – Will AUKUS keep us safe – at what cost?
the Commissioners of the AUKUS Public Inquiry present their findings at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. iview.abc.net.au/show/national-press-club-address
Submissions to the federal government’s new draft framework close on the 13th November 2026.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
