2018 was Australia’s best-ever rooftop solar year – solar energy records smashed

National battery standard applauded by CEC.

The latest report from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) reveals 2018 was the best-ever year with record rooftop solar with renewable records smashed across the board. The Clean Energy Australia Report 2019 shows rooftop solar energy systems  added a record-breaking 1.55 GW of new capacity to the electricity market last year. More than 2.3 GW […]

Federal Budget 2019: No surprises from Coalition on Australia’s energy future

Federal Budget energy measures

The Federal Budget energy measures released last night offered no surprises in terms of energy infrastructure, electricity costs and Australia’s energy future. It did include election-priming electricity bill relief of $75 for social security recipients, which could be a case of too little too late. Even that was limited, with NewStart, AusStudy and AbStudy being exempted […]

Solar storage battery means zero electricity bills for NSW customer

Solar storage battery slashes bill to zero for NSW woman.

A New South Wales householder has slashed her electricity bill to zero using a solar storage battery installed in her Tweed Heads home, on the state’s far north coast. Wendy Litchfield told Yahoo Finance that her regular bill of $250-$300 reduced to nothing through smart use of household appliances and energy storage. There’s an added […]

Four Corners report shows climate change concerns heating up ahead of federal election

Demand response trials save consumers money.

Pre-election climate and energy battles are reaching a critical stage ahead of May’s federal  poll. This week’s ABC Four Corners documentary showed experts weighing in over the best way to tackle climate change and spiralling energy prices. The point was made that Australia is well-positioned to take advantage of renewable energy. However, Franck Woitiez, managing director […]

ARENA backs renewable energy refining to power manganese production

ARENA renewable energy funding priorities

Ore refining could become a whole lot greener by using renewable energy to drive the production of specialty metals. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has granted $490,000 to mining and metals company Element 25 (E25) to explore the viability of using wind and solar power in electrowinning manganese metal. Electrowinning is an upgrading process […]

Majority of South Australians want 100% renewable energy by 2030: TAI poll

Ageing coal-fired plants in Victoria are least reliable in national grid.

Nearly 70 per cent of South Australian voters want their state to adopt 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. In addition, it seems South Australian renewable energy has overwhelming support across political divides. New polling by The Australian Institute (TAI) shows majority support for renewables like wind and solar power cuts through party affiliations. This includes […]

New coal power fails to make the cut under Coalition’s generation plan

New coal-fired power has failed to make the cut in a shortlist of new generation projects released by the Morrison Government. The Coalition unveiled a selection of 12 projects that could potentially receive taxpayer support as part of its Underwriting New Generation Investments (UNGI) program. The government chose from 66 submissions to the underwriting scheme, which […]

AEMO to Canberra: New Queensland coal-fired plants are not needed

The Morrison Government will not underwrite new Queensland coal-fired power plants, despite intense lobbying from Queensland Nationals. The Federal Liberal-National Coalition yesterday released a short list of recipients of its Underwriting New Generation Investments Program. The only coal-fired generation included was an upgrade to the Lake Macquarie power station in NSW. Earlier this month, six […]