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Australia solar capacity additions in 2017 estimated at record
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Solar costs for residential users fell 44 percent since 2012
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Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg
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Australia, one of the world’s biggest users of rooftop solar panels,
likely added the most new capacity on record last year as electricity
users sought to ease escalating power bills.
A preliminary estimate by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator of 1.05
gigawatts installed last year would be a record for the country, the
government body said in an emailed statement Friday. While subsidies and
generous feed-in tariffs helped boost growth earlier this decade, last
year’s gains were driven by users seeking to sidestep a surge in the cost of electricity and a push by vendors into the commercial sector, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
“We are on track to have had the biggest year yet for installed small-scale solar capacity” in 2017, according to the regulator statement. “What we have seen is that homeowners and businesses continue to embrace solar panel systems, which is driving increased levels of capacity across Australia.”
The shift to solar may have quickened as power prices spiked last year on tight supplies of coal and gas, which fuel the bulk of generation capacity on the national electricity market. BNEF estimates the cost of solar systems for residential customers has declined 44 percent since 2012.
“The payback period for residential solar is now as low as it was in
2012, when super-generous feed-in tariffs and subsidies drove a massive
boom in installations,” said BNEF’s Sydney-based analyst Annabel Wilton.
Rooftop solar will account for as much as 24 percent of Australia’s electricity by 2040, according to BNEF’s 2017 New Energy Outlook. When combined with small-scale batteries and demand response initiatives, up to 45 percent of the country’s total power capacity will be located on owners’ properties -- known as behind-the-meter-capacity -- by 2040.
But fossil fuels still hold sway for traditional power producers, even as they look ahead to a less carbon intensive future. Sydney-based Alinta Energy Holdings Ltd., which completed the acquisition of the 1,000 megawatt coal-fired Loy Yang B power station on Monday, sees the purchase as a way to lock-in retail customers now to gain later in the country’s transition toward cleaner power.
“The reality is that it’s great to have a vision to be clean and green, but if you don’t have any customers you don’t have a ticket to the game,” Alinta Chief Executive Officer Jeff Dimery said in a phone interview Monday.
Coal Loses in Australia Amid Switch to Clean Energy
Links
| Getting Cheaper Average cost for residential solar power system in Australia is falling  |
| Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), Solar Choice Note: Costs are for a 4kW system after Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) subsidy |
“We are on track to have had the biggest year yet for installed small-scale solar capacity” in 2017, according to the regulator statement. “What we have seen is that homeowners and businesses continue to embrace solar panel systems, which is driving increased levels of capacity across Australia.”
The shift to solar may have quickened as power prices spiked last year on tight supplies of coal and gas, which fuel the bulk of generation capacity on the national electricity market. BNEF estimates the cost of solar systems for residential customers has declined 44 percent since 2012.
Forget The Grid
Australia will lead the world in households and businesses installing their own electricity supply
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Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)
Note: Figures show ratio of behind-the-meter electricity capacity to total installed capacity
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Rooftop solar will account for as much as 24 percent of Australia’s electricity by 2040, according to BNEF’s 2017 New Energy Outlook. When combined with small-scale batteries and demand response initiatives, up to 45 percent of the country’s total power capacity will be located on owners’ properties -- known as behind-the-meter-capacity -- by 2040.
But fossil fuels still hold sway for traditional power producers, even as they look ahead to a less carbon intensive future. Sydney-based Alinta Energy Holdings Ltd., which completed the acquisition of the 1,000 megawatt coal-fired Loy Yang B power station on Monday, sees the purchase as a way to lock-in retail customers now to gain later in the country’s transition toward cleaner power.
“The reality is that it’s great to have a vision to be clean and green, but if you don’t have any customers you don’t have a ticket to the game,” Alinta Chief Executive Officer Jeff Dimery said in a phone interview Monday.
Coal Loses in Australia Amid Switch to Clean Energy
Links
- Why Energy-Rich Australia Suffers the World’s Priciest Power
- Why Resource-Rich Australia Can't Keep Lights On: QuickTake Q&A
- Lights Out? Now Australia's Got a Coal Shortage
- Happiness is a post-solar electricity bill (Farewell to 2017)
- Private schools go big on solar – a lesson in ethics and good business
- Queensland opens rooftop solar market to low-income and rental households
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