Large-scale solar will be cost competitive with new coal-fired power stations in Australia by the end of the decade, the head of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has predicted. ARENA […]
Tag: coal
Vic Labor party pledges support for renewables as rural towns turn to clean energy
The Victorian Labor Party has nailed its renewable energy colours to the mast in the lead up to next week’s state election, pledging to reverse wind farm restrictions and help […]
UNSW solar pioneer Prof Martin Green foresees PV as #1 energy source globally by 2050
A world-leading Australian solar PV researcher has predicted that the cost of photovoltaic technology will fall by another 50 per cent over the next decade, making it a game-changing energy […]
Brazilian solar auction draws globally low bids, cheaper than coal, gas
Brazil’s first “solar only” energy auction has attracted bids among the lowest in the world, bringing the South American nation closer to achieving the world’s cheapest solar contract prices – […]
Low bids in Indian auction show utility-scale solar is cheaper than imported coal
The results of India’s latest solar auction have confirmed that solar PV is cheaper than imported coal when it comes to generating electricity for Indian users. A tender for 500MW […]
Energy storage steadily gaining steam globally, as coal looks set for a long, slow decline
Even as Tony Abbott spruiks reactionary about coal’s benefits to humankind, a massive revolution is undoubtedly underway in the world’s energy sector–whether he cares to acknowledge it or not. Renewable […]
Prof Ray Wills says 80% of world’s energy needs will be met through self-generated renewables by 2040
A WA academic and energy advisor has predicted that 80 per cent of the world’s energy will come from self-generated renewable energy, like rooftop solar, by as soon as 2040. Ray […]
Conergy to build 2MW heart-shaped solar plant in New Caledonia
The Australian arm of German solar giant Conergy has announced it will be building a 2MW solar PV plant in New Caledonia – a project that aims to send a […]
Report shows electricity from renewables creates more jobs than fossil fuels
A new international report has found that the development of renewable energy resources like solar and wind creates more jobs than the development of fossil fuels. In its inaugural Rethinking […]
Climate Change Authority chief recommends maintaining RET but extending timeframe
The chairman of the Climate Change Authority has weighed in on the debate over Australia’s Renewable Energy Target, arguing it should be kept at its current level, but extended over […]
Future of Utilities – Part 1: The death of base-load generators
As the uptake of renewable energy continues, solar and wind customers around the world are facing resistance from electricity utilities. The ‘Future of Utilities’ series aims to introduce various concepts […]
China to introduce solar leasing-style financing to open up distributed solar opportunities
China is looking to adopt a similar solar leasing model to that which has dominated the rooftop PV market in the US, in an effort to encourage more homes and […]
Royalla Solar Farm developer FRV to quit Australia if RET Review recommendations implemented
The global solar developer behind Australia’s largest solar farm has warned that it would up cease doing business in this country if the Abbott government implemented the recommendations of the […]
Colourful options for India’s solar future: Beehives, pigeons, horses and/or elephants
India has the potential to grow its solar PV capacity by more than 140GW over the next decade if it chooses the right policy path, a new report has found. […]
Coalition would need to ‘get the Greens convinced’ in order to abolish RET: Palmer
In an encouraging sign that he will not be backing down (or backflipping) on his promise to support the Renewable Energy Target (RET), Clive Palmer has sarcastically commented that the Coalition will […]
Indian ‘ultra-mega’ projects set to help drive down solar costs
The Indian government has signed up to a plan to help fund some of the world’s largest solar PV parks across, increasing the energy poor nation’s total solar capacity by […]
Solar employs more people than coal industry, and keeps electricity prices down: Australia Institute
New research has shown that the fast-growing Australian solar industry is both creating jobs and pushing down electricity prices, despite claims to the contrary from power networks and the fossil […]
Renewables account for over half of new US electricity capacity in first half of 2014
Renewable energy sources, namely solar and wind, have provided more than half of all new electricity generating capacity in the US in the first half 2014, a new report has […]
Renewables provided 30% of Germany’s electricity in first 6 months of 2014
Record amounts of solar and wind energy generation in Germany have helped push the country’s share of renewables to 31 per cent of electricity production for the first half of […]
Solar will dominate new generation capacity buildout to 2030: BNEF
Solar looks set to dominate new electricity capacity and investment in Australia, with a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicting solar PV will account for nearly half of […]
Abbott says RET driving up power prices, while solar appears to sink market electricity price in QLD
Are clean energy schemes driving up the price of electricity? In the case of the carbon tax, the answer seems pretty clearly to be ‘yes’–that’s what it was intended to do, initially […]
ACIL Allen’s RET modelling shows homes & businesses could install 14GW+ of solar by 2040
Australian households will likely invest $30 billion in rooftop solar in the coming decades, assuming the major share of investment in the country’s transition to clean energy. Modelling conducted by consulting […]
ACIL Allen report on Renewable Energy Target bodes ill for Australian solar industry
The Australian solar industry is in grave fear about its future, following the release of various scenarios from ACIL Allen, the company doing the modeling for the Abbott government’s review […]
Hazelwood coal plant operator’s RET submission says solar PV still uneconomical
The owner of one of Australia’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants has argued that the cost of solar PV is unlikely to fall in future years, due to falling profitability of […]
Energy storage at center of discussion at Intersolar Europe 2014
Energy storage has dominated discussion in the opening days of the world’s biggest solar conference, the Intersolar Europe 2014 in Munich, with industry leaders pinpointing it as a major component of the […]
Australian concentrating solar demo plant sets solar heat record
A CSIRO-developed Australian solar thermal project has achieved what is being described as a game-changing breakthrough, demonstrating the technology’s potential to compete with modern coal-fired plants. The CSIRO Energy Centre […]
Government attacks Australian solar SMEs
The Murdoch Press are clearly well aligned with our Government’s transparent desire to destroy the renewable energy industry in Australia. Spouting the alarmist headline “Solar panels are time bombs”, the […]
Construction begins on Australia’s first concentrating solar plant with storage
Construction of Australia’s first stand-alone concentrated solar thermal power station with integrated storage is underway in NSW, with a project that promises to deliver electricity on demand, for around the […]
China to aim for 70GW solar by end of 2017, USA & India also plan big on clean energy
China is looking to more than triple its solar capacity by the end of 2018, as the US and India also look to boost their renewables and solar capacity. The […]
What would a solar system cost without the Renewable Energy Target?
“Is the Renewable Energy Target going to survive this review in reasonably good shape?” There are only so many times you can shake the Magic 8 Ball to try to […]
Australia’s small-scale solar plants’ contribution now equivalent to 1GW coal plant: Clean Energy Regulator
A new report by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has revealed that the nation’s total combined rooftop PV and solar hot water systems can generate enough renewable energy to displace the […]
