A wind turbine part being transported in South Australia and in the background an existing wind farm. Photo credit: David Clarke via Flickr.
By Anders Lorenzen"
Coal loving Australia have set an impressive record on renewables which shows even in the climate skeptic country down under renewables are faring incredibly well.
RenewEconomy reported that electricity from wind and solar supplied 100% electricity in the state South Australia on 30th September.
Photo credit: RenewEconomy.
On the graph above you can see there have been several periods between 27th September and 1st October where electricity from wind has actually exceeded that of demand, but the 30th September is significant, as that is the day when that was the case throughout the day from 9:30 to 18:00.
On top of that the second graph below will show you that solar PV also fared particularly well peaking at noon with 20% of electricity demand. The state has 650 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity, and every fourth home in South Australia is said to have installed rooftop solar PV. This meant that the state actually produced more than 100% renewable electricity.
Photo credit: RenewEconomy.
Australia as a whole are set to have some of the world's best conditions for solar PV, but despite this the Australian government want to roll back renewable energy laws set under the previous Labor government. The conservative Liberal government earlier this year abolished Australia's carbon tax, a tax that had seen large investments in renewable energy. Analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance are saying that the abolishment of the tax has already seen a drop of 70% in renewable energy investments as investor confidence are dropping fast.
Photo credit: Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
This graph above shows that after steady renewable growth in 2010 and 2013, this year have dropped to low levels not seen since 2001.
But as for South Australia renewables are still faring well and all eyes will be on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) which currently are under review by the government. South Australia have exceeded their renewable energy target for 2025 which was on 50%, this has now been increased to 50%, but if two proposed wind farms Ceres and Hornsdale are built it will quite likely reach 50% before then, which could pave the way for South Australia becoming the first 100% renewable energy state in Australia.
"Sub edited by Charlotte Paton"
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