A long overdue reset to the tariff reform agenda promises better outcomes for energy consumers. Plus a new report finds that retailers really do charge residential customers more than business.
For the first time, solar generation has exceeded coal as the dominant electricity generation source in the national power grid in winter.
Another solar record fell on 19 and 21 August, with NEM-wide solar generation exceeding coal generation for for first time.
Worth noting this milestone - for a period in the middle of wintery August there was more solar power (11,358 MW) being generated in the entire National Electricity Market than coal generation (9,827 MW). pic.twitter.com/sByXHBRCj3
The emergence of solar as the dominant source in winter was first observed on Friday 19th August, when it overtook coal for 35 minutes as the biggest fuel source. On Sunday 21st, the period lasted for three hours and 20 minutes.
At its peak, solar was producing 11,487 MW of power, while coal was producing 9784 MW.
Coal generation is in long term decline. Chart depicts monthly change in average power generation from Black and Brown Coal, and Rooftop and Utility Solar since the start of the NEM, measured in MW. Source OpenNEM
The relative balance of solar vs coal is contingent on overall aggregate demand across the grid.
In springtime there tends to be lower aggregate demand since we are not using air conditioning yet, and the use of electric heating subsides.
Grid-wide generation is always matched to demand, so with more available sunshine in spring, and relatively low aggregate demand, it becomes more possible for solar to represent the majority share of overall generation. We've already seen solar exceed coal in the springtime months of September and October last year.
What's new this year is that this same dynamic has played out before the end of August, while we're still in winter.
More than 3,000 MW of additional small-scale solar capacity was added to the grid in Australia last year, according to the Clean Energy Regulator, and the growth forecast for solar, accelerated by increasing energy pricing, is very strong.
Why are we surprised that solar is winning?
We expect that solar overtaking coal as the dominant generation source will become common, not only in late winter, but also into the summer months.
A long overdue reset to the tariff reform agenda promises better outcomes for energy consumers. Plus a new report finds that retailers really do charge residential customers more than business.
The Federal Government is funding $300 toward household energy bills in the 2024-25 financial year. Most households will receive quarterly rebates of $75 that will appear in the bills. Here’s everything you need to know.
Instead of spending $2.8bn to fundamentally improve retail energy dynamics through the electrification of Australian homes, we're giving $3.5 bn of public money directly to energy retailers under the guise of consumer bill relief.
Bill Hero is in the news about the rise of Demand Tariffs, but this story misses the main point that we're the *only* service that can calculate a comparison on a Demand Tariff bill
Savings as a Service is the blog site and newsletter from Bill Hero. Subscribe now and get your energy savings tips and information delivered fresh to your inbox every month.
