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Summary
- AEMO head has put forward an ambitious goal of reaching 100% grid capacity through renewables by 2025.
- Good wind speed and bright and sunny days throughout the year are considered to be the biggest threat to the goal
- In the last two months, eight projects with capacity of 724MW have been registered in the country, and four generators with a capacity of 493MW have gone operational.
The head of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Mr Daniel Westerman, has set an ambitious target for the use of renewable energy in Australia. Mr Westerman wants main grids to be capable of handling 100% renewable penetration by 2025.
Mr Westerman, who took over AEMO back in May 2021, is pushing for more wind and solar farms and more rooftop solar panels as more coal-based power plants are shutting down nationwide. Technical innovation, economics, policies of the government and choice of the consumers are driving the transition faster than ever, he noted.
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Here comes “the big question”
Wind and solar based plants cannot generate power at full capacity until unless it is “too windy or too sunny”. The grid would not have enough power supply to transmit further to the consumers. AEMO’s plan to reach 100% grid capacity will be met at the expense of traditional power supplied by coal and gas.
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Mr Westerman stated, stronger transmission infrastructure, big batteries, hydro and gas plants providing on-demand energy would be required as a backup during the wee hours of the day. He further said there are periods in time when renewable contribute more than 50% of the total electricity supply. So, it is not a major hurdle for a grid to reach up to 100% renewable capacity by 2025.
Activities in Aussie renewable sector
A total of eight projects with a combined capacity of 727MW have been registered in the country in the last two months. Four power projects with an installed capacity of 493MW have been commissioned and are operational.
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Mr Westerman, before joining AEMO had spent considerable years as a chief transformational officer and president of renewable energy in the UK. On achieving 100% capacity, he further stated that this must become their goal, not because of personal ambition, politics or ideology. This should be done because this is where the country is headed for.
Is Australia ready for 100% renewable?
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Power generation accounts for nearly 30% of the total greenhouse gas emission in the country. If this sector is fixed, then Aussies may reach their target of zero-emission soon enough. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not set any deadline for achieving the zero-emission targets. He has said that country wants to become carbon neutral as soon as possible and most preferably by 2050.
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To achieve 100% penetration by 2025, the biggest challenge is to transition smoothly without any blackouts, and a significant challenge would be to do it economically.
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