A report released yesterday by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) detailing Australia’s progress towards its 2020 renewable energy target reveals record high investment in renewables in 2016.
Large-scale renewable energy investment was five times greater than it was in 2015.
More than $4 billion was committed over the last year, which in time will add more than 2000 megawatts of capacity to the grid.
Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, said that of the 98 new power plants accredited in 2016, 86 were solar, reflecting the rapidly declining cost and increased capacity of photovoltaics.
He said small scale renewable investment was also strong with 182,000 new installations in 2016, many of which were in regional areas.
"There are now across the country 2.6 million small scale renewable systems covering around 15 per cent of Australian homes," Frydenberg said.
"These rooftop solar panels and household hot water systems generate over 5000 megawatts of power, nearly twice the size as the nation's largest power station.
"This massive ramp-up in investment has seen Australia become a top 10 destination in the world for renewable energy projects ahead of other resource-rich economies like Norway and Canada."
Australia’s renewable energy target of 23.5 per cent by 2020 is now within sight, with the CER stating that “if this investment momentum continues in 2017… the 2020 RET can be achieved.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched its new Investment Plan outlining the investment priorities which will guide almost $800 million of funding over the coming years.
ARENA will broaden its focus to address the challenges facing the energy system as Australia transitions to a low emission economy.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said that as Australia shifts from fossil fuel generation to a low emission energy system with more renewables and more distributed energy resources, it needs to be secure, reliable and affordable.
The plan, titled Innovating Energy, sets our four new priorities:
Delivering a secure and reliable electricity system
Accelerating solar PV innovation
Improving energy productivity
Exporting renewable energy
“By funding further innovation, we could see solar power produce 30 per cent of Australia’s electricity within 20 years,” Frischknecht said.
For the first time, ARENA will also turn its attention to making energy use more productive.
“We are aiming to reduce emissions and energy costs across the building, transport and industrial sectors by making energy use more productive,“ he said.