Renewables account for almost 10% of electricity in Australia - CEC

Dec 7, 2011 - The share of renewable energy in Australia's electricity generation rose to 9.6% in the financial year to the end of September 2011 from 8.7% in the previous year, according a report of Australia's Clean Energy Council (CEC) published yesterday.

The increase reflected resurgence in hydro generation due to better rainfall conditions as well as generation from new wind capacity.

Kane Thornton, director of the CEC, said the country was well on the way to hitting its target of 20% renewable energy by 2020.

The renewable power produced in the 12 months through September was enough to meet the needs of over four million average homes. As much as 67.2% of it came from hydro sources, a rise from the levels seen in recent years, while the contribution of wind power declined modestly to 21.9%. Bioenergy accounted for 8.5% and solar photovoltaic power for 2.3%.

The report said that although residential solar still had a small share in the country's renewable energy generation, it experienced a record growth in 2010 and 2011. As of August 2011, Australia's installed solar capacity totaled 1,031 MW. This is equivalent to over 500,000 household systems, about 35 times the figure at end-2008.

Industrial-scale green energy like wind projects saw more modest growth mainly because of uncertainty around the adoption of a price on carbon. Thornton, however, said the sector was optimistic about the coming year. With a carbon price now in place, many companies are expected to invest in large developments in 2012 and beyond, he said.

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