Australia on the way to achieving its 2020 renewable energy targets
The Australian renewable energy regulator has released new information revealing that the country is well on track to meet its 2020 clean energy targets.
The Australian renewable energy regulator has released new information revealing that the country is well on track to meet its 2020 clean energy targets.
Australia has committed that at least 33,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of the country’s electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2020. For the target to be met, it has been estimated that roughly 6,000 megawatts (MW) of clean energy projects would need to be announced and built between 2016 and 2019.
Clean Energy Regulator Chairman David Parker explained that the record level of investment in renewable energy projects in 2017 helped the country reach a significant milestone and was critical for the positive forecast of the next years.
“While announcements started slowly in 2016, the momentum we saw in the latest part of that year continued throughout 2017 and has now reached a level that we believe will be sufficient to meet the 2020 target”, he said.
In 2016, project developers announced large-scale power projects of 6,532 megawatts (MW), out of which 4,900 MW have reached financial closure after securing all the necessary investment. More than 1,000 MW of these projects were completed and were commissioned in 2017 while the rest are expected to be fully operational early in 2018.
The figures indicate that 2017 was “the biggest year ever for new build coming online”, Mr. Parker said adding that "we expect 2018 and 2019 to be even bigger, with each year having more than double the new build completed compared to 2017”.
Of the announced renewable energy projects since 2016, solar accounts for 46 percent.
Mr. Parker commented: "Solar is an important emerging player in the energy mix, particularly on long summer days”.
"Over the next few years as more of these projects become operational they will make an increasing contribution to meeting peak electricity demand”, he added.
The state of Queensland will give life to the majority of the announced clean energy projects, followed by Victoria and New South Wales.
Source Clean Energy Regulator
“There is still a long way to go on the journey to reach the 2020 target, but we believe it will be met due to the hard work and tenacity of the electricity sector, the renewables industry and those that have financed these projects”, Mr. Parker concluded.
