A new report from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) highlights a steady recovery in large-scale renewable energy investment and strong ongoing energy storage investment in Australia.
Industry organization for the renewable energy sector CECThe second quarter report shows that the first half of 2024 overtook all of 2023 in terms of generation projects reaching financial obligation, with 1.6 GW added, compared to 1.3 GW last year.
The CEC said 161 MW of solar projects reached financial commitment during the period, as well as four hybrid projects totaling 193 MW.
By state, Victoria and New South Wales shared the most solar projects with financial commitments or under construction in the second quarter, 14 and 12 respectively. Total investment in the New South Wales projects amounted to AUD 2.5 billion ($1.6 billion ) and AUD 1.4 billion in Victoria.
The total generation project capacity across all states is 5,516 MW, with New South Wales being the largest contributor with 2,241 MW, followed by Queensland with 1,248 MW from eight projects, and Victoria with 1,137 MW.
CEC chief executive Kane Thornton said strong investment in new renewable energy generation is critical to lowering energy prices and ensuring energy security for Australia.
“As governments, regulators and industry work to overcome the barriers to new investment, we remain confident that this will provide the certainty needed for a further revival of new investment in the near future,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to see investments in large-scale generation We continue to move in the right direction, but we are not yet at the level we need to see.”
The report states that an acceleration of financial commitments for generation projects in the second half of the 2024 calendar year will be necessary to achieve an annual run rate of 6 GW to 7 GW per year of financial commitments for large-scale generation projects.
The rate is the same as what is needed to move Australia towards the federal government’s target of 82% renewable energy generation by the end of 2030.
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