In a world first achievement of 100% solar power, SA has not only served all of its electricity demand for more than an hour shortly after mid-day on October 11, 2020 through rooftop and utility scale solar, but they now boast the cheapest wholesale electricity prices in the country.
Thanks to the growing share of wind and solar and the increase in rooftop solar PV which is reducing grid demand, in a world-first in a grid of this size, South Australia posted the lowest wholesale electricity prices in the country. According to AEMO:
“SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S QUARTERLY AVERAGE PRICE FELL 57 PER CENT TO $29/MWH, REPRESENTING ITS LOWEST AVERAGE SINCE Q2 2012”
If you want to understand how electricity generation works and track the various intricacies and manoeuvring across the country and the globe, there is no better plain-english journalist than Giles Parkinson from Renew Economy. The machinations of the industry are at once intricate and basic PR spin.
There is the old guard of black and brown coal, with a little gas thrown in and the new guard of solar, wind and hydro with a few batteries thrown in. In the middle is the electricity grid.
In the end, South Australia, who have been developing renewables solutions for nearly 50 years, achieved the 100% solar milestone and are now on their way to their goal of 500 per cent renewable energy target by 2050 reflecting its desire to export clean energy to neighbouring states and overseas.
Great to see a solar milestone, but here in SA we're paying 38c per kw hour + $100 supply charge, which is the highest cost for electricity in Australia. Thursday, 11 February 2021