Australia has seen its best year for large-scale renewable energy investment since 2018, finishing 2024 with AU$9 billion in total investment to renewable projects.
The latest Quarterly Clean Energy Investment Report found seven large scale renewable energy projects, representing 1598 MW of new generation capacity and AU$2.4 billion of capital investment, were financially committed in 4Q24.
Kane Thornton, Clean Energy Council CEO, commented: “Clean energy already powers around half of our national energy needs. We have now seen two consecutive quarters of very healthy investment activity in 2024, which is the best we’ve seen since the investment highs of 2018, when our sector was delivering on the bi-partisan Renewable Energy Target.”
Thornton added that the strong quarterly result was in line with the pace required for Australia to hit its target of 82% renewables by 2030.
In total, 4346 MW of new generation capacity was greenlighted for construction over the course of 2024, worth over AU$9 billion in capital value, along with over 10 000 construction jobs.
The last calendar year also saw another positive result for energy storage investment, with 11 348 MWh of new projects committed over the year and 1936 MWh in the 4Q24.
The 585 MW Goulburn River solar farm, which secured a contract under the first round of the capacity investment scheme, was one of the projects to reach a final investment decision in 4Q24. Once built, the solar farm will produce approximately 1.3 TWh of renewable energy annually, powering the equivalent of 225 000 homes.
Thornton continued: “The rebound in clean energy investment is great news for Australian households and businesses who urgently want to see the cost of their electricity bills fall. Wind and solar combined with energy storage are the lowest cost form of electricity generation. We need more of these clean power stations in the system, together with gas in the interim, to reach our target of replacing unreliable and expensive coal power, before cheaper wholesale prices can start to flow through peoples’ energy bills.”
Additionally, he highlighted: “It’s also good news for jobs, with all the new large-scale clean energy projects committed in 2024 standing to deliver over 10 000 new construction and installation jobs. These results show that clean energy investment is getting back on track and it’s critical that we don’t lose focus or change direction now that a strategy is working. Investors need stable and predictable long-term policy settings to provide them with the confidence to invest their money in these critical infrastructure assets which Australia urgently needs.”
There are currently 88 renewable electricity generation projects which have either reached financial commitment or are under construction, representing 13.2 GW of capacity in the pipeline. There are also 52 committed storage projects currently in development, equivalent to 10.5 GW in capacity/energy output. These pipeline projects represent at least AU$36.5 billion worth of capital investment.
Since 2017, 223 generation and storage projects have been commissioned, representing 17 GW of installed electricity generation capacity and 2.1 GW of energy storage. These commissioned projects represent at least AU$33.5 billion worth of capital investment.
For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.
Energy Global’s Winter 2024 issue
Don’t miss out on our last issue of the year! The Winter issue of Energy Global is out now; this issue kicks off with a guest comment from Veronica Maxted, Director of Renewables at RS Group before moving on to a regional report on the current state of the renewables industry in North America. This edition of the magazine also explores key topics such as inspection and maintenance, solar optimisation, energy storage technology, geothermal drilling and operations, and much more. With contributions from key industry leaders such as Viridien, Hexagon, DNV Energy Systems, and Halliburton, among others, dive into the issue and see what you could learn.
Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/solar/13022025/clean-energy-council-shares-australian-investment-highs-for-renewable-energy-in-2024/
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