Au Energy Market Operator: All New Generation in Australia Will Be Renewables Through 2020

[kristopher]

All New Generation in Australia Will Be Renewables Through 2020
By Katherine Tweed
Posted 20 Dec 2013 | 17:07 GMT

All new electricity generation in Australia will come from renewable energy through 2020, according to a new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) [PDF].

The bulk of the new power will be wind, with large-scale scale solar photovoltaics comprising about about 13 percent and biomass making up the rest at 3 percent. There are nearly 15 800 megawatts of proposed wind generation projects, according to the AEMO. More than 780 MW of the wind power is expected to come online in 2014-2015.


new australia generation

A carbon tax has been in effect Down Under since 2012, but the government could repeal it. Even without the tax, coal power will still be retired as more renewables come online, according to the report. By 2020, there could be 3700 MW less coal-fired generation, about 13 percent of the country's total coal power production.

In the short term, however, AEMO is focused on the challenges of bringing renewables online, which can introduce transmission and distribution issues onto the grid. Intermittent renewable energy can cause instability and can require more ancillary services such as frequency regulation to offset the variable power coming from wind or solar. The AEMO will include transmission connection point forecasts into its electricity forecasts moving forward and is reviewing transmission projects.

The market operator is also developing an independent assessment...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/all-new-generation-in-australia-will-be-renewables-through-2020


Report:
http://www.pennenergy.com/content/dam/Pennenergy/online-articles/2013/December/2013_NTNDP.pdf.pdf

[kristopher]

1. Australia has 2m small-scale renewable systems, says Clean Energy Regulator

Australia has 2m small-scale renewable systems, says Clean Energy Regulator
Electricity needs of households in Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra combined could be met by the mostly solar systems
Oliver Milman
theguardian.com, Thursday 9 January 2014 01.14 EST

The 2m systems could generate 6,882 gigawatt hours of electricity a year. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPImage
Australia now has more than 2m small-scale renewable energy systems, according to the Clean Energy Regulator, the falling cost of solar panel systems and the renewable energy target credited for the milestone.

The Clean Energy Regulator, a government agency that oversees Australia’s renewable energy targets, said the 2m systems could generate 6,882 gigawatt hours of electricity a year.

This equates to the amount of electricity required by about 1.04m Australian homes, equivalent to all households in Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra combined.

The bulk of the small-scale systems are solar-based. 1.1m are solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftop appliances, with a further 842,000 solar systems used to generate hot water. A small amount of wind and hydro energy makes up the rest of the total.

“Assisted by falling system costs coupled with financial incentives derived from the renewable energy target...

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/09/australia-has-2m-small-scale-renewable-systems-says-clean-energy-regulator