Australia is likely to reach 50% renewables by 2030, even without a change to federal policy due to the growing uptake of rooftop solar and the big pipeline of large scale projects brought to the market by State-based targets, says leading analyst group Reputex. It says that the target will be underpinned by around 19GW of new renewable capacity under the various State renewable energy schemes with a further 6GW to be built to meet and beat the existing renewable energy target of 33,000GWh.
This is a prime example of renewable energy muscling in on fossil fuel energy in my country. Plans to transform government-owned land in the coal centre of Gladstone, QLD into a 450MW renewable energy hub have been realised with the winner of the tender to be announced this week to build what is expected to be Australia’s largest solar farm. Gladstone – which is home to a 1,680MW coal-fired power station, the state’s largest electricity generator – is also known for its shipping port, which is largely used to export Australian coal and, more recently, LNG.