with Rooftop PV Capacity Soaring, Australia Will Have Added 7GW of Renewable Energy Capacity by 2020
According to the latest data from the Australian Clean Energy Regulatory Agency, due to a 40% year-on-year increase in rooftop solar installed capacity, the renewable energy capacity will exceed previous expectations to a certain extent by2020, leading to a major breakthrough of the Australian government's renewable energy target.
1. The Australian government renewable energy target exceeds expectations
As several utility solar and wind power projects were scheduled in advance, the Australian government's renewable energy target has added 7GW of new capacity, exceeding the regulator's expectations of 6.3GW this year.
The 4GW of new capacity includes a large-scale project, including 1.7GW of solar energy and 2.3GW of wind energy. Lower technology costs and the shift of household spending to housing renovation during COVID-19 has led to an increase in rooftop photovoltaic installed capacity. If medium-scale rooftop solar projects are included in the Australian government's renewable energy targets, then in 2020, Australian rooftop solar energy capacity surpassed the 3GW.
The clean energy regulator said that the annual fire-powering has almost been replaced due to new rooftop projects and a record high output of solar and wind energy, leading to a declining demand of fire powering.
Between 2018 and 2020, the Australian government renewable energy target will add 18.3GW of new power with an investment of 26.5 billion Australian dollars (US$20.5 billion).
2. Rooftop photovoltaics enable the rapid development of the Australian government renewable energy target
David Parker, chairman of the clean energy regulator, said, "At the end of 2020, the total renewable energy generation of the National Electricity Market (NEM) has accounted more than 30% of the total, an increase of 5% over the previous year, which is not surprising."
New South Wales is the state with the highest rooftop photovoltaic utilization rate with an additional capacity of 311MW in the fourth quarter. Western Australia added 117MW of rooftop photovoltaics in the fourth quarter. According to the state's energy roadmap, the growth of household solar installations will replace the growth of coal-fired power stations and utility solar power stations.
Based on the large number of undelivered rooftop projects that will be carried over in 2021, the clean energy regulator predicts that 3GW-4GW of home and commercial rooftop photovoltaic projects will be added this year.
A recent report predicts that Australia's accelerated energy transition is due to Australia's "rapid progress" in green hydrogen. It is estimated that by 2030, Australia's non-hydropower capacity will account for 30.1% of the total electricity layout.
