While Australia generates a lot of renewable energy, a significant amount of that energy is wasted. In the middle of the day, when solar panels are at their most productive, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) often instructs solar farms to disconnect from the grid.

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,005 Australians about their willingness to pay for nuclear energy.

If buildings shifted one third of their peak electricity consumption to the middle of the day, this would save $1.7 billion annually and add additional peak capacity equivalent to 52% of Australia’s existing coal generation fleet. It would reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 1.9% (2,780,000 tonnes) per year and accelerate decarbonisation by

The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Housing on the proposal to convert the defunct Redbank coal-fired power station to run on woodchips and other biomass. Redbank is located in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report provides a comprehensive account of Australian attitudes towards climate change, its causes and impacts, and the integrity of Australia’s current and proposed climate solutions.

The Australia Institute has been involved throughout the Energy Security Board’s (ESB) project to create a Post 2025 design for the National Electricity Market (NEM). In this submission we address the ESB’s proposal to design a capacity market mechanism as a way of managing energy reliability as coal power stations retire. The problem the ESB

The Morrison Government’s ‘technology not taxes’ approach to climate change policy is little more than new branding for an old strategy – a strategy pioneered by the Howard Government back in the 1990s. Rather than introduce a carbon price, mandatory energy efficiency standards or restrictions of fossil fuel consumption or extraction, the Howard Government pursued

All the net reduction in national emissions between 2005 and 2020 were contributed by the land sector. Emissions from energy combustion, which in 2020 accounted for 72% of total emissions, were 2.0% higher than in 2005. Total energy emissions to the end of August 2021, as estimated by NEEA, again increased, as growing consumption of

While it has been widely rumoured that the cost of securing National Party support for Scott Morrison’s commitment to net zero could be up to $20 billion in in budget spending for projects in National Party seats, the real cost of the deal is, according to an analysis of various recent climate change modelling done

Climate of the Nation is the longest continuous survey of community attitudes to climate change in the country.

Welcome to the August 2021 issue of the NEEA Report, and apologies for the long delay since the last issue. Because it is nearly five months since our last issue, this new issue starts with an update in the NEEA estimate of changes in Australia’s total energy combustion emissions up to the end of June

The Australian Government claims that Australia is leading the world in achieving climate targets and transitioning to renewable energy. New analysis finds Australia’s energy emissions continue to rise, while productivity and decarbonisation rankings fall. Since 2005 Australia has maintained, if not slipped further behind, its OECD counterparts when it comes to the energy transition.

The most urgent challenge facing the National Electricity Market (NEM) as it transitions to clean energy is not technological but regulatory; keeping coal power stations going for the minimum time required as new clean energy and system services supply is built. The Options Paper provides Australian governments with the missing pieces of this coal retirement

Welcome to the February- April 2021 bumper issue of the NEEA Report, presenting electricity-related data updated to the end of March 2021, data on gas consumption to the end of February, and petroleum product consumption to the end of January. Details on data sources and methods are included in the appendix. Key Findings: Between February

Australia’s electricity industry constitutes a large and critical component of our national economic infrastructure. The industry produces $25 billion per year in value- added. It employs around 50,000 Australians, paying out $6 billion per year in wages and salaries. It makes $45 billion in annual purchases from a diverse and far-reaching supply chain, that provides the sector with inputs ranging from resources to equipment to construction to services.

This report has been prepared by the Victoria Energy Policy Centre (VEPC) for the Australia Institute to provide advice to the Energy Security Board’s Post-2025 redesign of the National Electricity Market (NEM). The terms of reference require us to examine the arrangements for the provision of inertia and system strength in the NEM. Inertia refers

Batteries and renewable energy can provide inertia and system strength in the National Electricity Market as coal is retired. The Post-2025 redesign is the opportunity to enable the energy transition with a fit-for-purpose security regime. This discussion paper summarises a technical study written by leading energy economist Professor Bruce Mountain and battery expert Dr Steven

Welcome to the January 2021 issue of the NEEA Report, with data relating to electricity in the National Electricity Market updated to the end of November 2020. This includes a short summary of the very important investment initiatives in New South Wales, announced by Minister Matt Kean at the end of November. This issue also

Welcome to the November 2020 issue of the NEEA Report, presenting electricity related data updated to the end of October 2020 and data on petroleum fuels and gas consumption to the end of August. Details on data sources and methods are included in the appendix.

Submission made to the Energy Security Board’s proposed framework for the planning of renewable energy zones (REZ) within state jurisdictions in the National Electricity Market (NEM). This form part an ongoing research project titled Rural Communities and Renewable Energy: A Socio-economic Study in NSW, conducted by thte University of Sydney Environment Institute, Australian National University and the

COAG Energy Council consulted on a proposed new national regulation that would mandate air conditioning and other consumer devices to have ‘smart’ demand response capabilities. This requirement would only apply to new appliances. The Australia Institute made a submission arguing that the economic modelling in the Regulatory Impact Statement justified making the decision as it

We made an independent submission to the Australian Energy Market Commission on the second draft rule and draft determination for the Wholesale Demand Response rule change. We supported the Commission’s more preferable rule on the basis that it contains a considerable number of changes to the mechanism which increase the effectiveness of the reform. We

The Australian Energy Market Commission is considering a rule change that would allow distribution networks to charge households with solar PV for the energy they export. Our submission argues that it would be unfair to bring in a new system of charges to cover the supposed costs of DER before DER can also earn fair