People power to the rescue
It was uplifting to start 2024 with such a good news story. That is, over the course of 2023, renewable energy supplied nearly 40% of electricity demand in Australia, nearly halfway to the government’s target of 82% by 2030. Furthermore, this was up from 35% the year before.
But clearly to get to 82%, increases of more than five% per annum are needed. Interestingly, the capacity of roof top solar increased 21% from 2022 to 2023. Another type of power, people power, is driving the transition.
The estimated total annual potential for rooftop solar is 245 TWh, almost identical to the nation’s total current electricity generation of 272 TWh.
But what about when the sun isn’t shining? In 2022, energy expert Bruce Mountain said, “We think the priority … is storage, storage, storage. Without lots of storage we will not get to the 82% renewable” target.
Thanks to the energy crisis, households and businesses installed nearly 0.6 GWh of battery storage in 2022, an increase of 77% on the year before!
Clearly, with more incentives, even more Australians will do the lifting.
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