More than 5000 megawatts of large-scale solar as well as wind projects have been initiated in Australia in 2022, the highest renewable construction commitments that have been on record. In a statement given by the Clean Energy Council, there also happens to be an increase in the energy storage investment, with 19 large-scale battery projects that have been under construction since last year and have a total capacity of 1380 MW (or 2004 MWh), higher than the 921 MW (or 116 MWh) seen in 2021.
Kane Thornton, the Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, said that the investment in large-scale clean energy gained 17% YoY last year, to almost $4.2 billion. In the fourth quarter alone, the investments went on to reach $2.90 billion, which was the second-highest quarterly jump since the data collection took place in 2017.
Thornton added that the energy mix of Australia will, without a shred of doubt, be the beneficiary of better clarity on policy because of climate change and clean energy transition areas of focus federally with the use of ambitious and sensible policies. That said, the sustained growth of renewable energy cannot be taken for granted.
So as to reach the Federal Government’s renewable energy generation objective of 82% by the end of this decade, the deployment pace when it comes to new large-scale projects needs to at bare minimum double.
It is well to note that the share of renewable energy when it comes to Australia’s energy generation last year was 35.9%, an increase from the 32.5% that was documented a year before that.