Australia in 2011 was different. Julia Gillard’s Labor government, the Green Party and several independents were rewriting the country’s climate policy, including introducing a world-leading carbon price system and creating three institutions to support it.
These organizations, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Climate Change Agency, have survived and are helping to shape the investment and policy landscape. The carbon pricing system was incorrectly described as a tax, which is famously not the case.
Under a coalition led by Tony Abbott, Australia became the first country to abolish a functioning carbon price after a campaign that his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, later admitted was based on lies. Many who wanted to scrap in 2014 are now quietly regretting that decision, and the policy is based on an indisputable truth: carbon emissions impose costs on us all. They argue that this is based on the rationale that the cost should be included in the price of global warming countermeasures. A product that emits CO2 would have been much better than the uncertainty and confusion of the past decade.
Who could have predicted that? Again, more than a few people. But here we are.
During this period, a little-known transition to clean energy resulted in the decision to split the country’s renewable energy goals in two. Created by the Howard government in 2001, this target was significantly expanded after Labor was elected later that decade. In January 2011, it was split into separate schemes to support large-scale renewable energy, which requires the construction of solar and wind farms and small domestic installations.
Both have been successful, but the latter is what sets the country apart as it is driving Australia’s residential rooftop solar power boom.
It is difficult to overstate how quickly Australians have embraced solar power and how much it has exceeded expectations. Projections in 2011 predicted that rooftop solar would eventually provide 4 terawatt-hours of electricity. From an Australian electricity grid perspective, this is almost equal to zero, representing only 2% of total electricity generation. For some, the question arose as to whether it was really worth the cost.
More than a decade later, this number is more than six times higher in the five eastern states connected by the country’s main power grid. Rooftop solar panels connected to the National Electricity Market generated 24.6TWh in last year’s data.
Put another way, homes account for 11.6% of electricity, which is about the same amount as wind farms, much more than large solar or hydropower plants, and much more than gas-fired power plants. That’s twice as much.
More than 3.7 million households and small businesses have installed solar power systems. This means more than one in three households across the country generate their own electricity when the sun is out.
Data released by the Clean Energy Regulator last week showed Australians are set to install 3.1 gigawatts of solar power on their rooftops this year, roughly continuing their recent pace. Industry body the Clean Energy Council says Australia currently generates more electricity from rooftop solar than coal-fired power.
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This is a wild, world-leading success story, but as I’ve pointed out before, it was something of a happy accident, the result of uncoordinated policy across federal and state governments. After some initial stumbles, the most important measure, the upfront national rebate processed and paid to installers, will be gradually rolled back as solar power becomes more affordable. As such, it maintains wide support, including from both major political parties.
Over a period of approximately five years (with some variation depending on your location), this rebate allowed us to reduce our costs to a level where we could effectively recover the cost of our system through reduced electricity bills. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, combined with the massive rise in the cost of fossil fuel electricity caused by gas and coal shortages and power outages, has made solar power more accessible to homeowners and mortgage holders who can afford the upfront cost. is economically very simple. Fee. Some states offer loans to make that easier.
The expansion of rooftop solar power generation will continue, with over 70GW expected to be connected by 2050. The important question is: What lessons can we draw from how this country got here?
One is that continued expansion needs to be fair. With homeownership becoming increasingly out of reach for many people, Australia needs to consider innovative ways to enable renters and people in social housing to access the benefits of solar power. be. Some initial steps have been taken in this direction, but many more steps are needed.
Second, we need to consider the role that home batteries will play in future electricity supply. Batteries have not received the wave of government incentives that come with the promotion of solar power generation. With some exceptions, they still do not make economic sense for households. But analysts say the lesson from solar’s success is that working hard early, even with adjustments along the way, can yield unexpected benefits. .
As with the flood of solar energy during the day, the rise in home battery storage (both stand-alone batteries and electric vehicle batteries that can be used in a similar way) will require changes to how the power grid operates and how we pay for it. You will need it. .
Consumers would pay less for the electricity they feed into the grid, which could prevent them from selling excess power during peak periods. On the positive side, power usage will be more flexible and efficient.
Given that we still operate on a system designed to power homes and businesses from a small number of large generators, this change poses a regulatory challenge, forcing energy companies to may resist significant control over energy use.
However, we live in an age of political populism, and the experience with solar power suggests that further changes in this direction will be widely welcomed.
Crossbench MPs have already joined Rewiring Australia’s Saul Griffiths in calling for swift movement in this direction, with both major political parties considering home energy policy before the next election. suggests. The question now is how far they will go.
