This report collects important events and progresses in the clean energy industry in 2017 and discusses prospects into 2018. Key highlights in the report include the 2017 status of current Australian clean energy infrastructure, investment, and generation capacity, as well as the renewable energy projects under construction. As at 2017, the total renewable energy generation in Australia is 38,138 GWh, which accounts for 17% of total energy generation and is dominated by hydro (33.9%), wind (33.8%), solar (20.3%) and bioenergy (9.7%). There were 16 renewable energy projects (700 MW equivalent capacity) completed or began operation in 2017, with 5600 MW capacity under construction or starting 2018 to meet the 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET).

The report endorses a positive outlook for the industry, which builds on four key aspects: key drivers for industry growth, government policies, the value of the investment, and national energy strategy. The key drivers for industry growth include the competitive renewable electricity price at a lower cost, stable feed-in tariffs from solar adopters, a faster rate of non-renewable electricity prices rising, reduced PV system prices, increased public awareness, accelerated industry momentum, and strong market robustness. From the strong momentum in industry growth, the renewable electricity price is expected to fall after 2018, which makes it competitive versus non-renewable energy sources. National energy security is another important driver, which encourages more battery storage for renewables and the development of Snowy 2.0 hydro scheme for energy storage. This has led to the recent news on the commissioning of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery (installed by Tesla) in South Australia; an implication of an emerging renewable energy storage market.

National profiles of major renewables in 2017 are also described in the report, including bioenergy, hydro, marine, solar, and wind. Bioenergy technology mainly uses cogeneration of bagasse (sugar cane waste) as the main source of biomass, which accounts for 9.7% of clean energy generation. Hydro power relies on geographical locations; there are 22,000 potential hydro sites identified across Australia. Currently pumped hydro accounts for 33.9% clean energy. Marine energy is the power from waves and tides, which is underutilised at present.  Solar energy comprises 20.3% of clean energy and the average solar system size is 6.27 kW, with a total of 1.1 GW installed in 2017. Wind power currently accounts for 33.8% of clean energy in Australia.

1. Global investment activities in clean energy is a strong indicator of the momentum in the global renewable energy sector. There are US$333.5 billion invested in 2017 and is expected to grow in the next few years given the international climate policies are now embracing clean energies from renewable sources.
2. Heading into 2018, renewable energy is expected to be the lowest-cost type of new energy generation that can be built. This means the unprecedented program of works is expected to reduce household power bills by hundreds of dollars every year.
3. Currently, hydro, solar, and wind are the largest renewable energy sector, which produces respectively 33.9%, 20.3% and 33.8% of total renewable energy in Australia, accounting for 15% of total energy in Australia.
4. The renewable energy project investment has acquired a total value of A$1.19 billion and is expected to create 6080 direct jobs at local districts. Given the progress of ongoing projects, Clean Energy Regulator is optimistic about hitting the RET.
5. In terms of industry investment, the global market has a total value of US$333.5 billion (3% increase) in 2017, in which Australia shares US$9 billion in large-scale wind and solar projects, which is a new record from the 150% increase in investment.
6. The small-scale rooftop solar market represents the largest power generation sector in solar energy. It has seen 1.1 GW expansion in 2017 and is expected to further in 2018.
7. There are clean energy policies in place for up to 2025-2030 from local governments. Many have committed to reaching their renewable energy target at 40-50% of total energy use. This means the sector can anticipate prosperity in the next 5 years.
8. There lacks a national climate or energy policy in place to encourage new investments to produce affordable clean electricity after 2020. The long-term political environment may be at risk.
9. Energy storage has seen an increasing demand to store the generated renewable energy. Battery projects and pumped hydro schemes are currently receiving investment in South Australia.