By AFP - Agence France Presse
Australia says reliance on coal-fired power falls to record low
Sydney (AFP) - Australia's reliance on coal-fired power stations has fallen to a record low, accounting for less than 50 percent of its electricity for the first time, the market operator said Thursday.
The Australian Energy Market Operator reported that overall electricity demand hit a record high in the last quarter of 2024 as temperatures rose and people moved away from gas.
At the same time, rooftop solar power production increased by 18%, and grid-scale solar power rose by 9%, both reaching record levels, according to an update on the National Electricity Market (NEM).
“The increase in rooftop solar production, coupled with the record low availability of coal-fired generation, meant that coal-fired generation contributed less than 50% of total NEM generation for the first time,” said Violette Mouchaileh, a senior official at the market operator.
Renewable energy sources supplied a record 46% of electricity in the quarter, she said, peaking at 75.6% on November 6.
This brought greenhouse gas emissions in the period to record lows, the market operator said.
Last week, Australia's government announced an extra $1.2 billion in clean energy funding to speed up the transition from coal and other fossil fuels to renewables.
The country - one of the world's largest coal exporters - has pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Climate wars
But energy authorities say that swift action is needed to fill the gap left by closed coal-fired power plants.
Wholesale electricity prices increased by 83% in 2024, according to the report, mainly due to high demand, declining availability of coal power, and transmission restrictions.
“The data confirms what we know: unreliable coal is hurting energy prices, more renewables in the system reduces wholesale prices and new transmission infrastructure is essential to keep prices lower,” said Chris Bowen, minister for Climate Change and Energy.
“We are building an energy grid so that everyone, everywhere, has access to the cheapest form of energy at any time,” he said in a statement to the Australian media.
Over the past decade, an ideological squabble dubbed the “climate wars” has dominated Australian politics, repeatedly undermining attempts to reduce carbon emissions.
In the run-up to the general election due to be held by May 17, Australia's conservative opposition Liberal Party has announced plans to launch nuclear power to rely less on solar and wind energy.
The national science agency CSIRO said in a report last month that nuclear power would be 50% more expensive than renewables and would take at least 15 years to build.
Australia sits on large deposits of coal, gas, metals, and minerals, with mining and fossil fuels fueling decades of almost uninterrupted economic growth.
But the country has also begun to suffer from more intense bushfires and increasingly severe droughts, which scientists have linked to climate change.
djw/sft/rsc
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