Australia, explained.
Solar cells in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
With a landmass capable of producing enough energy to supply the world, why can’t Australia even meet its own demands?
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Australia risks wasting its solar superpower statusAustralia risks wasting its solar superpower status
As statistics go, this is a good one: Australia could generate enough electricity to satisfy the needs of the entire world by covering just two per cent of its landmass in solar panels. It’s the geographical equivalent of a rounding error, especially when you consider that 90 per cent of Australia’s landmass is uninhabited. Denmark’s renewable energy pioneer Henrik Stiesdal remarked recently that he couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world with such potential.
To give you an idea of the magnitude, in a standard year, the available solar energy falling on the Australian landmass is estimated at 58 million petajoules – the entire world only currently uses 600,000 petajoules annually.
Of course, electricity generation is one thing. Storage and supply are another. Upscaling Australia’s renewable energy infrastructure to meet and deliver on a global potential is nigh on impossible.
Persistent underinvestment in R&D means productivity stagnates, economic growth shrinks, and standards of living drop, all while the country’s ability to respond to geopolitical instability dwindles.
A regional ambition, however, might just be achievable. Australia’s SunCable project marks a nascent step in that direction despite its recent failure to raise capital. With electricity demand in the Asia-Pacific estimated to increase by 70 per cent in the next 15 years, SunCable, a project funded by a consortium led by Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, aims to capitalise on the abundance of sunshine across Australia’s hottest regions and deliver power to Southeast Asia. Its goal is to meet 15 per cent of Singapore’s future electricity needs through a 4300-kilometre long subsea link snaking from Darwin through the islands of Indonesia.
With the exponential increase in energy-hungry data centres, manufacturing hubs, and mega cities in China, India and Southeast Asia, Australia really could establish itself as a renewable energy superpower. But that takes big ideas and big ambition. Are we prepared to fund this type of thinking?
Australia’s track record of financing research and development says “not really”. And there’s resistance to endeavours that involve the inevitable trial and error of discovery. The Australian Academy of Science notes that the country’s investment in R&D is at historic lows and that within five years, Australia will be at the bottom of the OECD country list on this metric. By extension, persistent underinvestment in R&D means productivity stagnates, economic growth shrinks, and standards of living drop, all while the country’s ability to respond to geopolitical instability dwindles.
So, the equation for the path out almost writes itself: Potential + R&D + productivity uplift = sustainable growth and self-sufficiency.
Solar panels near Kata Tjuṯa, Northern Territory, Australia (Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images)
Yet Australia’s road to success – be it as an exporter of renewable energy or simply meeting its own net-zero commitments – seems littered with obstacles. According to the Climate Council, Australia needs 49 GW of battery and pumped hydro storage by 2050 to meet the country’s needs. That’s 15 times our existing battery storage capacity. The Council’s recent report found that Australia currently had 12.5 GW of capacity under construction and another 12.5 GW in the pipeline. But delayed progress on wind farms, for example, which are essential to Australia meeting its clean energy targets, will make it difficult for the country to achieve its aim of producing 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
More outside-the-box thinking is needed. Initiatives such as long-duration energy storage, which includes on-site storage in remote areas, could for example reduce reliance on long-distance transmission lines. And a disused coal-fired power station on Australia’s east coast now houses the Waratah Super Battery, one of the most powerful built anywhere in the world, highlighting the benefits of repurposing obsolete sites.
These advances in energy capture, storage and supply technology are an essential part of the solution, but they rely on grid modernisation. To meet Australia’s future needs, the Australian Energy Market Operator expects 10,000 kilometres of new transmission lines will be required by 2050 to integrate renewables into the grid. About a quarter of this infrastructure is already underway, with the roadmap including domestic rooftop solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles as a crucial factor. Domestic uptake of home battery systems has the potential to save consumers around $4.1 billion in costs that would have otherwise gone into grid-scale investment.
With Australia needing to overcome broader regulatory, social and policy hurdles in relation to renewables, and the audience split over more contentious energy sources such as green hydrogen and nuclear power, the country’s focus must remain on the high-reward returns of solar and wind. But with a gaping policy chasm on research and development, Australia risks squandering its natural advantages for clean energy leadership.
About the author
Clare Caldwell
Dr Clare Caldwell is Head of Editorial at the Lowy Institute.
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