The first Australian Energy Resource Assessment, described as a national prospectus for energy resources, has been released.
Geoscience Australia and ABARE were commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to undertake the comprehensive and integrated scientific and economic assessment of Australia’s various renewable and non-renewable energy resources.
The Assessment has found that at present, renewable energy sources account for only modest proportions of Australia’s primary energy consumption (around 5 per cent) and electricity generation (7 per cent).
While 7 per cent still sounds substantial, the bulk of that is from hydro power. Australia’s hydro electric power stations have a combined installed capacity of 7.8 GW and produce about 4.5 per cent of Australia’s total electricity, the largest contribution of any renewable energy.
However, the Assessment recognises Australia’s wind resources are among the best in the world and wind energy is the fastest-growing energy source with an installed capacity of about 1.7 GW, which produced about 1.5 per cent of Australia’s electricity in 2007–08.
The Assessment also states that high solar radiation levels over large areas of the continent provide Australia with some of the best solar resources in the world, yet solar generated power only accounts for around 0.1 per cent of Australia’s primary energy consumption. This consists mainly of off-grid and residential installations using solar hot water systems with lesser production of electricity from solar panel based solar power systems.
The authors of the Australian Energy Resource Assessment state current barriers to immediate large scale utilisation of Australia’s substantial and diverse renewable resources include their generally higher costs relative to other energy sources (excluding hydro), their often remote location from markets and infrastructure, and the relative immaturity (excluding wind) of many renewable technologies.
Download Australian Energy Resource Assessment – Complete Report [PDF 46MB]
Download Chapter 10 – Solar Energy [PDF 3.5MB]
Download Chapter 9 – Wind Energy [PDF 2.5MB]
