Victoria And South Australia Ramp Up Renewable Energy Efforts
Yesterday saw two important renewable energy related announcements from the Victorian and South Australian Governments. In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced a new Victorian Renewable Energy Target. The target will see 25 per cent of electricity generated in the state sourced from renewables by 2020, […]
Basslink (Finally) Operational Again – What Now?
The Basslink interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria returned to service around midday on Monday. It’s been nearly 6 months since an unspecified fault took it out of action and plunged the Apple Isle into an energy crisis; made worse by lack of rainfall. It’s been a case of feast or famine for Tassie in relation […]
UK Solar Sector Suffering
Up to 18,000 UK solar jobs may have evaporated in the last 12 months due to savage solar subsidy cuts. 18,000 jobs would represent around half of the total employment in the UK solar sector, reports Edie.net. The nation’s solar boom saw around 10GW of solar power installed before the rug was pulled out from […]
Extended Tax Breaks For U.S. Offshore Wind Tabled
New legislation could see the American offshore wind energy sector receive continued tax incentives after Massachusetts and Rhode Island Senators introduced a bill to extend Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) schemes out to 2025. Democratic senators Edward J. Markey and Sheldon Whitehouse submitted the joint Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development […]
A Big Future For Solar And Battery Power – BNEF
Cheaper coal and gas will do nothing to derail the renewable energy revolution according to BNEF’s New Energy Outlook 2016. Bloomberg New Energy Finance states 60% of installed capacity will be zero-emission energy sources by 2040 and wind and solar power will take the lion’s share of new power generation capacity added – 64%. Solar […]
Coalition’s Reef Fund “Shuffling Deck Chairs”
The Coalition’s Great Barrier Reef strategy, funded by cash from the CEFC’s budget, has been met with significant skepticism from various corners and in some cases, outright contempt. As we mentioned yesterday, the Reef Fund will provide up to $1 billion over 10 years in investment finance for projects in the Reef catchment region that […]
CEFC To Help Save The Great Barrier Reef?
A billion dollars pledged by the Coalition to help save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will reportedly come from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s kitty. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will today unveil the Coalition’s $1 billion Great Barrier Reef Fund plan, designed to assist Queensland’s farming sector in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and toxic chemical […]
New South Wales Solar Feed In Tariff – June Update
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has made a final decision on solar feed in tariff rates in New South Wales. The “benchmark range”, i.e. voluntary retailer contribution, will be 5.5 to 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour in 2016-17. “This is due to an increase in the outlook for wholesale electricity prices,” states IPART. […]
Solar Voyager – The Autonomous Sun-Powered Kayak
The Solar Voyager is (slowly) making its way across the Atlantic. If it succeeds, it will be the first autonomous craft to do so. According to the Solar Voyager web site, the kayak is more than four metres in length and one metre in width. Solar Voyager is powered by two solar panels providing 240 […]
Victoria’s Regional Electricity Grid : Batteries Required?
It seems the electricity grid in parts of Victoria may not cope with new renewable energy capacity currently in the pipeline without significant network upgrades – or perhaps battery storage. Increased certainty around the nation’s Large Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) has led to major interest in renewable generation; particularly in the state’s North West […]