Funding in large-scale wind and photo voltaic in Australia has reached its highest stage in six years, with $9bn in capital dedicated to initiatives in 2024, new business information exhibits.
In response to the Clear Power Council, monetary commitments had been made for 4,346MW of recent renewable capability final yr. This was the best stage of funding the sector had seen since 2018, when business was delivering on the bipartisan Renewable Power Goal.
The robust end result was boosted by the ultimate quarter, which noticed seven large-scale initiatives – totalling 1,598MW of recent capability and $2.4bn in capital funding – acquire monetary dedication.
The Albanese authorities has been criticised for not being on observe to fulfill a goal of 82% of electrical energy coming from renewable power by 2030. However Kane Thornton, the chief govt of the Clear Power Council, mentioned final yr was according to the funding wanted to attain the federal government’s goal, and mirrored clear coverage indicators and assist from federal and state governments.
“These results show that clean energy investment is getting back on track and it’s critical that we don’t lose focus or change direction now on a strategy that is working,” he mentioned.
“Investors need stable and predictable long-term policy settings to provide them with the confidence to invest their money in these critical infrastructure assets which Australia urgently needs.”
In response to the report, Australia wants about 1,500MW of recent renewable power funding every quarter – or 6,000-7,000MW yearly – to succeed in the 82% goal.
The 585MW Goulburn River photo voltaic farm was among the many initiatives securing funding within the ultimate quarter of 2024, having earned a contract underneath the primary spherical of the federal government’s capability funding scheme.
The yr additionally noticed strong investments in power storage, comparable to large-scale batteries, with 4,029MW of recent capability dedicated. The biggest of those was the Woolooga battery storage system in Queensland, which might retailer 222MW of power for almost three hours.
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Alison Reeve, the deputy power and local weather program director on the Grattan Institute, mentioned along with sustaining excessive ranges of funding, hitting the 2030 goal would additionally require the rollout of recent transmission strains and a “tremendous amount of building”.
“What really matters here is that we get good at building this stuff on time and on budget,” she mentioned, including it was a difficult activity given the excessive competitors for trades and expert employees as a consequence of their demand in housing and infrastructure.
There was additionally worldwide competitors for photo voltaic panels and wind turbine blades to deal with. “A whole lot of other countries are also trying to build a lot of stuff in a hurry,” Reeve mentioned.
The yr additionally ended on a excessive for renewable electrical energy era, with wind, photo voltaic and hydro energy accounting for a document 46% of total provide, whereas coal energy dipped under 50% for the first time within the ultimate quarter, in response to the Australian Power Market Operator.
Reeve mentioned the business and buyers appeared to have gained “rhythm” now that such insurance policies because the federal authorities’s underwriting scheme had been off the bottom, however uncertainties remained.
“It’s very unclear, if there was a change of government federally, what that would mean for the capacity investment scheme,” she mentioned.
“The other risk that’s on the horizon is that there’s still a reasonable amount of uncertainty over when the coal-fired power stations are going to close.”
