Australia is redirecting AU$1 billion from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s (CEFC) AU$10 billion (US$760 million) allocation into a new Clean Energy Innovation Fund (CEIF), Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced.
The Australian Solar Council has claimed that reported plans to merge the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) could result in the removal of funding for ARENA.
Employment in Australia’s renewable energy industry fell 27% from its peak of 19,210 in 2011/12, to a total of 14,020 in 2014/15, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
A report from Australia’s Energy Networks Association (ENA) suggests that removing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and replacing it with "technology neutral" alternatives would be a more economical approach to reaching emissions reductions targets.
The Victorian state government in Australia aims to fast-track connections to the grid for rooftop solar installations, under the impending National Electricity (Victoria) Further Amendment Bill 2015.
Australia’s second largest PV plant, the 56MW Moree Solar Farm in Northern New South Wales, developed by Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), has started feeding power to the grid.
Industry veteran Nigel Morris, chief executive at RoofJuice Australia, who has been in the solar game for more than two decades, explains how Australia reached 5GW of solar and describes some of the political challenges ahead.
