LOCAL and GLOBAL NEWS THE SUNSHINE ENERGY 1.5GW solar PV and 500MW energy storage project in Kilroy, north of Brisbane, will become one of the world’s largest solar farms and boost Queensland’s proportion of renewable energy by 15 per cent to 36 per cent. The $2bn project will also abate ~2,100,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually and create >1,000 jobs, with up to 60 full-time jobs created for the life of its 25 to 30 year operation. Construction at the 2,055Ha site which will include ~5 million solar panels will start mid-2019 and be completed in two stages.
BATTERY OF THE NATION ARENA and TasNetworks have assessed feasibility of a second interconnector across the Bass Strait, Project Marinus, that would form a key part of Australia’s future energy network. Under consideration is either a 600 MW or 1200 MW link, delivered in two stages as 600 MW cables, that would use a high voltage direct current cable enabling Tasmania’s vast pumped hydro resources to support the National Energy Market. Hydro Tasmania is accelerating work to identify a pumped hydro project that will be ready to go when a second Bass Strait interconnector comes online.
NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS that solar PV is more popular in low and middle socio-economic postcodes and on less valuable homes. The report commissioned by Solar Citizens and assembled by Bruce Mountain also found that Australia is using less than a sixth of the total residential rooftop PV potential across the country, so there’s ample opportunity to expand distributed solar.
4 AUTUMN 2019
GLOBAL PRIMARY ENERGY DEMAND will plateau after 2035; electricity consumption will double until 2050, renewables are projected to make up over 50 per cent of generation by 2035 and carbon emissions are projected to decline due to decreasing coal demand. However a 2-degree pathway remains “far away” McKinsey concludes in its comprehensive report Global Energy Perspective.
