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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/29/australia-needs-substantial-increase-in-large-scale-renewables-projects-to-meet-decarbonisation-targets>
"New investments in solar and windfarms and batteries declined further in the
September quarter, falling below one-tenth of the pace required for Australia
to meet its decarbonisation targets for the electricity sector, the Clean
Energy Council said.
As delegates gather in the United Arab Emirates for a global climate
conference, Cop28, the latest data shows the capacity of new projects reaching
final investment signoff in Australia was near its lowest level since the
survey began in 2018.
During the quarter, just two new generation plants with 161MW of capacity
secured investment commitment – the 120MW Munna Creek solar farm in Queensland,
and a hybrid wind, solar and storage project at the Jundee Mine in Western
Australia.
For the year to date, new projects have a total generation capacity of 509MW.
Council chief executive, Kane Thornton, said the results were “a clarion call
for strong and decisive action” given the scale of investment needed to replace
ageing coal-fired power stations.
“Between now and 2030, Australia needs a substantial increase in financial
commitments for large-scale renewable projects, in the order of 6.9GW a year to
achieve the federal government’s target of 82% [share of the electricity
market] by 2030,” Thornton said.
“The rate of investment slowed more dramatically over the past year as a result
of higher project costs, complex permitting processes, a congested grid and
intensifying global competition in the race to net zero,” he said.
Another poor quarter for renewable generation investment comes days after
energy minister Chris Bowen unveiled a fivefold increase in the government’s
capacity investment scheme.
Industry welcomed the expanded plan – which would set price floors and ceilings
to give investors more certainty. Still, planning and other obstacles remain to
unlock the large pipeline of potential projects."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
