Posted in Association for Sustainability in Business

Wind farm boom looms as Premier Daniel Andrews looks to boost clean power

WIND FARMSVictoria would have 40 per cent clean electricity in less than a decade – nearly tripling the current level – under an ambitious plan announced by the Andrews government.

The government has set targets to ramp up wind power and large-scale solar power, paid for through an increase in household and business electricity bills and spending from the budget.

With private spending on clean electricity largely stalled due to a lack of confidence in federal government support for a national renewable energy target, the Andrews government believes its policy will make Victoria the centre of a revitalised industry.

It estimates that, at the peak of construction in the middle of the next decade, there will be about 4000 workers helping to build the target’s 5400 megawatts capacity of clean energy.

To put that in perspective, there are 18 wind farms with planning approval in the state, but not built.

The government says its target will improve the viability of the industry enough to build all of them – and nearly as many again – within nine years.

On top of this, one-fifth of the new generation capacity built would be solar plants in the state’s north.

In a statement, Premier Daniel Andrews said meeting the targets – 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025, up from 14 per cent today – would bring about $2.5 billion of clean energy investment into the state.

“The world is shifting to renewable energy. It creates jobs, drives growth and protects our environment, and Victorians want to be at the forefront,” he said.

With Australia currently generating more electricity than it needs, in the short-term new wind farms will further increase competition and theoretically push prices down. But it means the yearly increase in bills next decade would be more than the average.

The clean energy policy is the first explanation of how the government plans to meet its target of Victoria having no carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. That target, announced last week, would mean no more burning coal for power. To read more CLICK HERE.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.

To register for the conference CLICK HERE.

 

Melbourne renewable energy project provides global blueprint

Arron Wood sustainabilityCouncillor Arron Wood is the city’s environment portfolio chairman, standing in a rooftop courtyard as the faint sound of trams rises up from Swanston Street down below and the surrounding skyline reaches into a cool autumn sky.

Against this backdrop, not to mention the solar thermal panels on the next level, Wood does not hold back when discussing how cities can lead from the front in tackling climate change.

In a Guardian interview, he evokes the philosophy of Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire and former New York mayor who has been a major driver of climate change action by the world’s cities.

“[Bloomberg] says, ‘Nations talk and cities act’, and cities can do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of what is required for the Paris agreement [on climate action].”

Now a large project by the city of Melbourne could prove Bloomberg’s theory correct. More importantly, major cities around the world are watching closely to see if Melbourne’s strategy could become a blueprint for them to follow.

The Melbourne renewable energy project, conceived and managed by the city council, has been two years in the making. Thirteen major institutions operating in the city have formed a consortium that will sign an agreement to purchase a large chunk of their electricity from a new large-scale renewable energy project.

The consortium members are the city of Melbourne, Australia Post, National Australia Bank, the University of Melbourne, RMIT, data centre operator NEXTDC, Zoos Victoria, the city of Port Phillip, Moreland city council, the city of Yarra, Citywide, Melbourne convention and exhibition centre and Bank Australia. If the project goes ahead, it will reduce Melbourne’s carbon emissions by 138,000 tonnes per year.

The strategy will give a would-be project the chance to secure a buyer for the electricity it would produce but it also overcomes the reality that none of those 13 organisations would be big enough on their own to sign such a large-scale energy agreement.

A tender process is underway to find a proponent to provide 110GWh of renewable energy each year, enough to power 28,000 homes. The tender deadline is 20 June and, as the process is confidential, the council has not revealed which energy companies have submitted proposals.

Hypothetically a proponent might already have an advanced plan to build a large-scale solar or wind energy plant somewhere outside Melbourne but still need to secure a long-term buyer of the electricity before an investor will come on board with money for construction. If the Melbourne consortium were to sign a 10-year purchase agreement with that proponent, the proponent would have the certainty required to go ahead with its project.

The strategy is revolutionary, as it is the first time in Australia that a group of buyers has joined forces to purchase large-scale renewable energy. In fact, the council says it is not aware of a similar model anywhere in the world, especially under the leadership of a city council. To read more click here.

The National Sustainability in Business Conference; renewables, markets, innovation, opportunities and capital will be held 23 – 24 March 2017 at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.

To register your interest in the conference CLICK HERE.

Large-scale hybrid project completed at Australian copper and gold mine

hybrid projectWork has been completed on Australia’s “largest solar and battery storage project to date”, a 10.6MW PV installation at a copper mine linked to 6MW of storage, according to developer Juwi.

While it still uses diesel to run alongside the solar panels and batteries, the Germany-headquartered company claims the off-grid project will save the DeGrussa Copper and Gold Mine around five million litres of diesel fuel a year – around 20% of its current usage.

The project’s construction began last summer, with support from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). At the time, CEFC chief Oliver Yates said the project could prove the economic advantages of using such hybrid systems versus running mines and other off-grid operations solely on diesel.

The DeGrussa mine project is integrated into the existing 19MW of diesel generators at the site, while single-axis trackers and 34,000+ PV panels were commissioned in mid-March before the addition of the 6MW lithium-ion storage system.

Juwi Renewable Energy said the plant is now up to its “full generating capacity… in accordance with contractual specifications” and that it has successfully met the terms of PPAs covering the project, which will be owned by French renewable energy firm Neoen.

The potential for battery storage in remote locations including island territories and off-grid industrial operations such as mines has been long-talked about, with US thin-film solar company First Solar claiming the first scalp in Australia’s mining sector with a commercial solar-plus-storage plant at Rio Tinto’s Weipa bauxite mine in Queensland completed last September. To read more click here.

The Association for Sustainability in Business – our ambition is to develop a vision of designing and planning Urban, Regional and Remote Australia while being aware of one planet living, one world resources and ongoing community and business sustainability. CLICK HERE to read more about the Association.

Through on-going discussion and knowledge sharing we hope to contribute to a vision of how cities and communities operate when considering issues such as environment, governance, health, liveabilty, design, resource and food security. We will also examine the role business can play in the “People, Planet, Profit” paradigm.

We promote continuing professional development through conferences and seminars, the publication of Proceedings and Journals, and the ongoing development of an on-line podcast resource.

Membership is free. To become a member click here.

Australia to use almost 40% renewable power by 2030

renewablesNearly 40% of all Australian electricity generation will be from renewables by 2030, a report from consulting firm McKinsey has claimed.

The report, released at the APPEA conference in Brisbane on Tuesday, said by 2030 up to 37% of Australian electricity could come from renewable sources. This compares to 14% in 2014.

But across all fuel sources, including transport fuel, renewables are still only expected to make up about 5% by 2030.
Using a “business-as-usual” approach the McKinsey report said despite an increase in renewables Australia was likely to miss Paris Climate Change Accords emission reductions.

“In the power sector, gas would continue to be used to supply power to the grid during periods of peak demand.

However, increased generation from renewables and the lower cost of existing coal-fired generation mean that overall demand is expected to shrink,” the report read.

The report said gas-fired power plants were likely to complement renewables as they can “ramp up” to cover for energy shortfalls faster than alternatives.

But the report said gas may become more important to Australia’s energy use because of a number of environmental and economic concerns.

These included fuelling trucks with liquid natural gas and buses with compressed natural gas, fuelling trains with LNG and using gas to power off-grid or on-grid power.

“Satisfying Australia’s future energy consumption while at the same time reducing emissions significantly will require a different approach to what has worked in the past,” the report read.

“Overall consumption in 2030 is expected to be 21% higher than it is today, and the mix of fuels that supplies it will likely change as a result of increased renewable penetration and action to reduce (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions intensity.

“The options and numbers presented in this report are intended to help inform the debate amongst society, businesses, policy makers and regulators about what this future could look like.”

The McKinsey report comes after Oxford economist Cameron Hepburn told the APPEA conference the gas industry must develop carbon capture technology quickly or the industry will die. To read more click here.

Visionary renewable energy projects that could pay off for Australia

Although there are numerous innovative projects seeking to improve the sustainability of Australia’s energy sector, one of the main barriers to making them happen is – as with most things – money.

With the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) set to lose $1.3bn in unallocated funds, the agency has announced a raft of grants for green projects, including $17m for nine research and development projects that “have a pathway to being fully commercial” through industry partners as reported by Annie Kane.

According to Arena’s CEO Ivor Frischknecht, the three-year projects all focus on integrating either more renewables or more energy into industrial processes or the grid to “help drive down the balance of system costs” while boosting sustainability.

There are four of the multi-partner projects that could potentially make a big difference to greening Australia’s economy.

Australia’s huge alumina market not only produces millions of dollars for the economy but also millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – largely produced from burning natural gas for heat in the refining process.

However a new $15.1m project (which has received $4.5m of Arena funding) led by the University of Adelaide is hoping to sharply reduce the industry’s reliance on natural gas by identifying a cost-effective way to integrate low-temperature concentrated solar thermal (CST), solar reforming of natural gas, and high temperature CST in the Bayer refining process. The project also involves in-kind technical support from mining company Alcoa.

It is hoped the project could reduce the use of fossil fuels in the Bayer process by up to 45% and could potentially be expanded into other mining and minerals processing operations in Australia and overseas. To read more about the other renewable energy projects click here.