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Australia’s electricity grid faces congestion and power security issues over the next few years as more solar energy capacity is installed at faster rates than previously expected.
That’s according to a report from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), which has found that 763MW of new large-scale solar capacity was added to the power mix last year.
In order to ensure greater power security as more thermal generation power plants are retired, AEMC, AEMO and the Energy Security Board (ESB) are working on separate frameworks and policy proposals that will concern the ongoing security and reliability of Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM).
Coal-faced: exposing AGL as Australia’s biggest climate polluter
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While this report does not suggest any illegal conduct on the part of any of the individuals or organisations named, it shows that AGL is currently using its position and power to slow the transition to a low carbon economy which is jeopardising both human and planetary health, and it presents alternative approaches that would allow AGL to transition from Australia’s biggest polluter to a green energy leader.
Primarily a generator and retailer – or ‘gentailer’ for short – of electricity and gas, AGL was founded in 1837 as the Australian Gas Light Company and now serves nearly one-third of Australian households. With a generation capacity of more than 11,000MW – 20 per cent of the total capacity within Australia’s National Electricity Market – it operates the country’s largest electricity generation portfolio.
28 April 2021
The Sydney-based company behind an Australian made technology that helps forecast and optimise the output of large-scale wind and solar projects is seeking to raise to up to $5 million to accelerate its international expansion.
Fulcrum3D said on Wednesday that it was working with advisory firm Energy Estate to tap investors for $A3-5 million to increase its market reach and capitalise on the global renewable energy boom – particularly in the US, where a renewables friendly government has taken the wheel.
The company first launched its ARENA-backed advanced cloud tracking system on the Australian market in mid-2016, where it was soon been applied to major commercial and grid-scale projects, including the 25MW Katherine Solar Farm in the Northern Territory.
13 April 2021
New reports have emerged of major rift between federal energy minister Angus Taylor and the body tasked with developing a redesign of Australia’s National Electricity Market, with allegations that Energy Security Board chair Kerry Schott was pressured to resign over her refusal to fall in line with the Morrison government’s obsession with gas.
In a report on Monday night, ABC TV’s Four Corners program alleged that Taylor’s head of department called Schott and “urged her to resign” after she refused to support the minister’s repeated assertion that NSW coal plant closures would leave a generation gap big enough to require a new plant.
Electricity emissions can be cut to net-zero while keeping the lights on and prices down. But achieving that quickly means keeping gas around, for now.