.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..
An article by Zachary Shahan from Clean Technica
Once upon a time, it was “common knowledge” in the energy industry that solar energy couldn’t contribute more than 5% share of electricity supply. For a long time, this was claimed to be an upper limit that utilities could handle. My, how things have changed!
South Australia is one of the best examples. The Australian state gets more than 20% of its electricity from rooftop solar power alone, and nearly 70% from all types of wind and solar together.
Photo of solar panel installation in South Australia
South Australia also broke an interesting milestone earlier this month. For one hour on October 11, South Australia got 100% of its electricity from solar power. It is reportedly the largest jurisdiction in the world to do so.
“This is truly a phenomenon in the global energy landscape,” Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) chief executive Audrey Zibelman said.
Indeed.
“Never before has a jurisdiction the size of South Australia been completely run by solar power.”
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Are we making progress in renewable energy?
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A whopping 77% of that electricity came from rooftop solar panels. The other 23% came from large-scale solar projects.
Even hitting this big milestone, AEMO expects 36,000 more rooftop solar power systems will be installed in South Australia in the next 14 months.
Naturally, solar power didn’t provide precisely 100% of electricity demand in that one hour on October 11. Excess electricity from those solar power sources went into batteries or got sent to Victoria, a neighboring state, via a transmission connector.
Approximately one-third of households in South Australia, 288,000 of them, now have rooftop solar panels.
Naturally, there’s one great way that South Australians can soak up that tremendous amount of solar energy — buy an electric car and charge it while the sun is out and shining.
South Australia has been a fascinating region of the world for renewable energy and energy storage for years. Here are a few other stories about the Australian state:
With Most Electricity From Renewables, South Australia Has Lowest Utility Cost
Tesla Virtual Power Plant In Australia Outperforms Expectations
Tesla Grid-Scale Battery In South Australia To Get 50% Larger
Tesla’s Battery In South Australia Breaks Stranglehold Of Natural Gas Industry