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Highlights
- Although Australia is ramping up its efforts to embrace renewable energy sources, several challenges lie ahead on this road to transition.
- Recently, many residents of a regional Victorian community campaigned against proposed transmission lines in Western Victoria.
- Navigating the challenges seem essential for Australia to achieve net-zero emissions.
Since coming to power, the Labour government’s major agenda for Australia has been the transition to renewable energy sources. This is because Australia is one of the countries producing the highest yearly emissions. Thus, to align with the schedule set by the Paris agreement to achieve decarbonisation by 2050, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) recently formulated a 30-year roadmap for Australia's transition to renewable sources of energy.
Is renewable electricity more economical than coal based power?
Now comes the implementation part. So, to achieve the set goal, the transition needs to be made at a heavy magnitude. However, apart from the financial aspect, there are various other challenges that the country is facing in its path to achieving the optimum level of transformation from coal to renewable sources of energy. Let’s now glance at those challenges:
Regional communities could suffer
People residing in regional areas are also very hopeful for the energy transition. However, the cost they may pay for this change could be high. Recently, many people from the communities of regional Victoria, where a renewable energy transition is ongoing, reported that the planned energy transmission project would see high-voltage powerlines built through their farms.
If the powerlines pass through their farms, people’s farms could get destroyed, and farming could become challenging for many. It is worth noting that the livelihood of hundreds of families depends on the vegetation produced on their farms. These concerns have raised questions about role of renewables in powering Australia.
Source: © Cammeraydave | Megapixl.com
Substantial investment required
Many experts have suggested that Australia’s energy grid needs upgrading to achieve renewable energy targets. Additionally, experts believe that to achieve the 82% renewable energy transition in the grid, a major upgrade of the wires and poles will be required to transport the power across the country.
To make the transition within the set time frame, the central and the state authorities would have to prioritise investment in renewables for the upcoming years. For the same to happen, the government could also ponder on offering incentives to industrialists to invest in renewables.
In a given scenario, experts suggest that once the challenges coming along the way of energy transmission are addressed optimally, electricity could be available at a much lower cost than it is right now. Additionally, renewable energy sources could make access to electricity far more reliable and eco-friendlier for Australia.
