The Federal Government’s announcement to expand Australia’s energy grid capacity

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced that the Federal Government is working with state and territory governments to increase Australia’s grid capacity to deliver more affordable, reliable, and low emission energy.

The Government plans to add 9GW of clean dispatchable capacity and 23GW of variable renewable capacity across the nation by 2030. The Government intends to achieve this through the expansion of the Capacity Investment Scheme and new agreements with state and territory governments under the National Energy Transformation Partnership to ensure the delivery of new renewable projects in a way that reflects their individual needs. The additional renewable energy and clean dispatchable capacity will be equivalent to approximately half the current National Electricity Market capacity.

In the announcement, Minister Bowen acknowledged that the Government isn’t on track to meet its renewables target of 82% by 2030, currently sitting just below 40%. The Federal Government has warned that where a state or territory does not make the necessary commitments, energy capacity may be re-allocated to those that do. The CEO of the Clean Energy Council, Kane Thorton, has welcomed the Government’s announcement to accelerate their efforts to reach renewable targets, and ultimately net zero.

For more information, please contact Mark Dessi, David Cooper or Mark Montag.