We’ve recently heard about a plumet in large-scale renewable energy developments that took place across 2019. The good news is that this dive could be relieved by a forecasted record number of new wind and solar farms that are filling Australia’s pipeline for 2020.
On Tuesday, Rystad Energy – industry statistician – said utility solar and wind projects will reach a total of 2.6GW in capacity, which is up from 2.6GW in 2019.
From this figure, 1.9GW of it will be made up of PV developments, while 1.57GW will be comprised of wind farms. All remaining (0.1GW) capacity will be allocated to battery storage.
What happened in 2019?
Despite some positive achievements in the industry, 2019 saw a slow-footed uptake on clean energy transitioning, which bodies blamed on connection delays, transmission issues and the extremely crowded grid.
However, we could also say that these same issues are the very reason 2020 will welcome a boom in project commissioning.
Rystad Energy’s head of Australia Gero Farruggio said the renewables industry has been through a “quiet spell” with only a handful of new projects surfacing in recent months. However, he noted that Rystad expects the sector to bounce back in 2020’s second half.
“Projects with power purchase agreements (PPAs) and winners of government auction schemes and grants are scheduled to enter the construction phase, developers will be shifting to more favourable parts of the grid in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland,” he said.
“Projects are lining up in central and northern New South Wales to replace the coal-fired Liddell power plant that is due to close by April 2023.”
The company further confirmed that there are also several projects reaching “advanced stages of development”, totalling 3.76GW in capacity. They also believe these developments have the potential really make a difference for the industry, taking the sector to new heights in 2020.
What renewable energy projects are coming in 2020?
Australia is expected to see the following projects complete their commissioning this year:
- Darlington Point (275MW)
- Limondale (249MW)
- Kiamal Stage 1 (200MW)
- Sunraysia (200MW).
An additional new wind farms are also set for completion in the commissioning stage, totaling a combined capacity of 1.57GW. This lineup features PARF’s 453MW Coopers Gap. Expected to be the biggest active wind farm in the country, it will also be only the second large-scale (and operational) farm in Queensland.
New South Wales will receive most of the goods, with a total of 2GW in projects to be commissioned for the state.
RELATED: December 2019’s solar installation rush solidifies huge national total.
