Clean Energy Australia Report 2015

The Clean Energy Australia Report 2015 includes a comprehensive round-up of renewable energy projects, investment, employment and electricity generation. It is the only analysis that includes the National Electricity Market, the Western Australian electricity grid and other major regional grids across the country in areas such as the Northern Territory.

Some Key Findings:

• Renewable energy provided 14.6 per cent of Australia’s electricity in 2015, enough to provide power for the equivalent of approximately 6.7 million average homes. This was up on the 13.5 per cent of electricity delivered by renewables the year before.
   
• The continued reduction of state feed-in tariff levels led to lower but more sustainable sales of rooftop solar power in 2015. Rooftop solar power passed 5 gigawatts of capacity in early 2016, enough for a virtual power station large enough to power all the homes in Brisbane and Perth.
   
• Five new wind farms were completed in 2015, along with eight solar farms larger than 1 megawatt of capacity. Two of the three largest solar plants in the country, at Nyngan (AGL/First Solar) and Broken Hill (AGL/First Solar) became operational during 2015, while the Moree Solar Farm (FRV) officially launched in the early part of 2016. All of these are in New South Wales and received financial support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
   
• Investment in major projects was $1.2 billion for 2015, although almost all of these received support either from ARENA or state-based renewable energy programs.
   
• Employment in the renewable energy industry contracted by 3 per cent in the 2014-15 financial year, a decline of 470 jobs compared to the financial year before. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the industry employed 14,020 people at the end of the year.