AGL Energy Ltd is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. AGL is Australia's largest electricity generator, and the nation's largest carbon emitter. In 2022, 83% of its energy came from burning coal. It produces more emissions as a single company than the nations of New Zealand, Portugal or Sweden, according to its largest shareholder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, who named it "one of the most toxic companies on the planet".
Solar power is a fast-growing industry in Australia. As of September 2023, Australia's over 3.60 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 32.9 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 3,823 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.
The Mildura Solar Concentrator Power Station was a proposed 100 megawatts (130,000 hp) concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar PV system to be built at Carwarp, near Mildura, Victoria, Australia. It was proposed by Solar Systems in 2006, which was acquired by Silex Systems in 2010. A 1.5 MW demonstration plant was completed in April 2013. Construction of the larger facility was expected to commence in 2014 and be completed in 2017. However, the expansion plan was abandoned in August 2014 due to a number of factors, including low wholesale electricity prices, a lack of commitment to clean energy by the Australian government and uncertainty surrounding the Renewable Energy Target (RET) in Australia.
Renewable energy in Australia is mainly based on biomass, solar, wind, and hydro generation. Over a third of electricity is generated from renewables, and is increasing, with a target to phase out coal power before 2040. Wind energy and rooftop solar have particularly grown since 2010. The growth has been stimulated by government energy policy in order to limit the rate of climate change in Australia that has been brought about by the use of fossil fuels. Pros and cons of various types of renewable energy are being investigated, and more recently there have been trials of green hydrogen and wave power.
The Silverton Wind Farm is a 199 megawatt wind farm situated on the Barrier Ranges in New South Wales, built for AGL Energy by Catcon and General Electric.
The energy sector in Hawaii has rapidly adopted solar power due to the high costs of electricity, and good solar resources, and has one of the highest per capita rates of solar power in the United States. Hawaii's imported energy costs, mostly for imported petroleum and coal, are three to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Hawaii was the first state in the United States to reach grid parity for photovoltaics. Its tropical location provides abundant ambient energy.
Solar power in Florida has been increasing, as the cost of solar power systems using photovoltaics (PV) has decreased in recent years. Florida has low electricity costs compared with other states, which makes individual solar investment less attractive. Florida ranks ninth nationally in solar resource strength according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and tenth in solar generation by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar power in Michigan has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements, falling solar prices and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives. The largest solar farm in Michigan is Assembly Solar, completed in 2022, which has 347 MW of capacity. Small-scale solar provided 50% of Michigan solar electricity as recently as 2020 but multiple solar farms in the 100 MW to 200 MW range are proposed to be completed by the middle of the decade. Although among the lowest U.S. states for solar irradiance, Michigan mostly lies farther south than Germany where solar power is heavily deployed. Michigan is expected to use 120 TWh per year in 2030. To reach a 100% solar electrical grid would require 2.4% of Michigan's land area to host 108 GW of installed capacity.
Solar power in New Zealand is increasing in capacity, despite no government subsidies or interventions being available. As of the end of February 2024, New Zealand has 400 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar power installed, of which 130 MW (33%) was installed in the last 12 months. In the 12 months to December 2023, 372 gigawatt-hours of electricity was estimated to have been generated by grid-connected solar, 0.85% of all electricity generated in the country.
Mount Signal Solar, also known as Imperial Valley Solar Project, is a 794 MWp (614 MWAC) photovoltaic power station west of Calexico, California, United States, in the southern Imperial Valley, near the Mexican border. The facility is being developed and constructed by 8minutenergy Renewables in three phases, with two completed as of 2018. At full build-out, it will be one of the world's largest PV solar farms with a capacity of about 800 MWp (600 MWAC). The project has been supported by several environmental groups, as the power station was built on low productivity farmland.
The Nyngan Solar Plant or Farm is one of the largest operating solar plants in Australia. At the time of construction, it was the largest solar plant in the southern hemisphere. It is located 10 km west of Nyngan in western New South Wales. It was built and is operated by AGL Energy.
Aurora Solar Thermal Power Project was a planned solar power tower solar thermal power plant to be located north of Port Augusta in South Australia. It was planned to generate 150 MW of electricity after it was completed in 2020. Storage capacity would have been up to 8 hours at full power. The facility was expected to produce 495 GWh of electricity annually. It was to be 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Port Augusta on Carriewerloo Station.
Neoen is a French producer of exclusively renewable energy headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 2008, it develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage solutions. As at 30 June 2023, the company's total capacity was 7 GW, made up of 47% solar, 34% wind and 19% battery storage. Neoen aims to attain 10 GW in operation or under construction by 2025.
Solar River Project is a proposed photovoltaic power station planned to be built near Robertstown in South Australia. The project received development approval from the Government of South Australia in June 2018 and was expected to start construction early in 2019. However, as of November 2021, the project was still proposed to be constructed, but work on site was not expected until at least the second half of 2022.
The Murra Warra Wind Farm is one of Australia's largest wind farms. Located on the plains of north-western Victoria, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the city of Horsham, it consists of 99 wind turbines with a maximum tip height of 220m.
The Sunraysia Solar Farm is a solar farm under construction south of Balranald in south western New South Wales, Australia. It is expected to be completed around the end of 2019.
The Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park is a combined wind and solar farm under construction south of Port Augusta in South Australia, Australia. The solar farm is planned to be at the northern end of the site, west of the Augusta Highway and south of Sundrop Farms. The wind turbines will be on both sides of the Augusta Highway, extending south as far as the road to Horrocks Pass. Construction formally started in October 2020 and is estimated to take about 18 months to complete. The total site is about 5,400 hectares.
