Australia’s Renewable Energy Boom – The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly

Written By Fabiola Robledo

2 May 2023

Overview

After an extended drought in renewable energy investment under former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, once he was deposed Australia experienced an investment megacycle or boom. That boom has continued up until 2022 and is leading to a rapid transformation of Australia’s electricity mix and reductions in carbon emissions. But as projects associated with this boom have come online, they have revealed an array of problems in our ability to effectively harness wind and solar technology.

These problems, and in some cases the solutions, are revealed within a wealth of data on power projects’ operation provided within the Generator Statistical Digest 2022. In our work analysing the renewable energy sector, Green Energy Markets has been confronted by the serious challenges and constraints projects have encountered as they have unfolded. In this paper we use the data within the Generator Statistical Digest to look back on the challenges that have flowed from the boom. We’ve done this through a series of case studies illustrating the good, the bad and the downright ugly of Australia’s electricity market transition to renewable energy.

We hope these drives better informed investment but also policy decisions.

Fabiola Robledo
Previous

Four reasons why rooftop solar will grow to dominate the electricity market
Next

Welcome to our new website