Clean Energy Fact Sheet We All Want Affordable, Reliable and Clean Energy So We Can Enjoy a Good Quality of Life
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Clean Energy fact sheet We all want affordable, reliable and clean energy so we can enjoy a good quality of life. This fact sheet sets out how we’re leading a transition from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy. Background Minimising or, where we can, avoiding financial EnergyAustralia is one of the country’s biggest hardship is part of the challenge as we transition generators of power from fossil fuels. Each to cleaner generation. We need to do this while preserving the reliability of supply. +800 MW year we produce around 20 million tonnes Rights to of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide Our approach involves supporting the renewable energy or CO₂, from burning coal and gas to supply development of clean energy while helping our electricity to our 2.4 million accounts across customers manage their own consumption so eastern Australia. they use less energy. Because when they do For around a century, coal-fired power plants that, they generate fewer emissions and they ~$3B have provided Australians with reliable and save money. Long term affordable power and supported jobs and renewable Supporting renewable energy agreements economic development. The world is changing with fossil fuel generation being replaced by Right now, EnergyAustralia has the rights to lower emissions technologies. more than 800 MW worth of renewable energy, combining solar and wind farm power purchase The way we generate, deliver and use energy agreements, and we half-own the Cathedral 7.5% has to change. As a big emitter of carbon, it’s Rocks wind farm. Of large-scale up to us to lead the transition to cleaner energy wind and solar in a way that maintains that same reliable and project in the NEM affordable access to energy for everyone. The challenge Renewable electricity is generated from +320,000 resources that produce low or no emissions, like homes the sun (solar systems), water (hydroelectricity) Powered by our and wind (wind turbines). renewable energy agreements Of course, we all want to reduce our emissions as fast as possible. But cleaner forms of energy can be expensive, take time to plan and build, and can lead to higher household bills if we aren’t thoughtful. Cathedral Rocks wind farm, located near the southern Costs of renewable energy have been falling tip of South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. rapidly. New renewable power is now cheaper Through our long-term renewable agreements than some forms of coal and gas generation – worth almost $3 billion, we underpin 7.5 per but it cannot provide 100 per cent of anyone’s cent of the large-scale wind and solar projects energy needs all of the time. in the National Electricity Market (NEM). Compared to coal and gas, renewable electricity Based on an average annual household is intermittent, meaning it is less reliable and consumption of around 5 MWh, this is enough harder to control as the sun doesn’t always to meet the needs of more than 320,000 homes shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. for a year. Renewable electricity is one piece of the In addition, we operate two utility-scale battery energy puzzle – but more pieces, such as storage systems. The stand-alone Ballarat energy storage, are needed to deal with terminal station and co-located Gannawarra intermittency. The challenge is that some of solar farm battery assets represent a combined these technologies remain more expensive than storage of 80 MWh. historic forms of generation. Information current as at December 2020 This is enough capacity to store power for more We expanded our Go Neutral program to than 40,000 homes for an hour of critical peak home gas use in May 2020. We added Business demand before being recharged. Carbon Neutral in June 2020, helping our business customers offset their electricity +250,000 Our focus is now on projects that help provide emissions and display their carbon credentials Go Neutral grid stability and integrate renewable power into for a flat fee. customers the national energy system. EnergyAustralia has over 250,000 of our We think solar and wind energy, demand customers choosing to have their energy use response, pumped hydro, battery storage offset, and we have offset over 1.6 million MILLION +1.6 TONNES and intelligent energy management systems tonnes of carbon dioxide to date. – supported by flexible gas-fired generation – Carbon dioxide EnergyAustralia now has the largest offset through will underpin a new, modern energy system in Go Neutral to date Australia. The challenge is identifying the best Climate Active certified offset offering in the and cheapest mix. Australian energy sector, and the second largest in the country. Reducing our generation emissions +40,000 We need reliable and affordable energy, that’s homes why we’re investing to make our existing power Can be powered stations more efficient. for an hour of For example, in 2015 we completed a major peak critical demand by our maintenance program at the Yallourn power battery storage station in Victoria which has allowed the plant to produce power for another 100,000 homes without having to burn more coal. Helping customers use less energy 100% Acquisition of Increasingly, our customers are taking control solar and LED of their energy consumption. It’s our job to help lighting company, them make decisions that are right for them. We buy only verified offsets under the Echo Group Since 2016, we have given our customers the government-backed Carbon Neutral Standard, opportunity to offset their emissions from home including Australian carbon offsets and quality electricity use at no extra cost to them. accredited international units. We are committed to helping our customers improve their energy efficiency and reduce their overall energy use. To better cater to commercial and industrial OWNED ASSETS 1 Cathedral Rocks - 33 MW customers with cutting-edge technologies, in October 2020 we completed our full acquisition POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS 2 Boco Rock - 113 MW of solar and LED lighting company, Echo Group. 3 Bodangora - 68 MW 4 Coleambally -105 MW We think it’s our responsibility to keep driving 5 Gannawarra - 50 MW the industry toward the next big innovation. & 25MW/50MWh storage 6 Gullen Range - 165.5MW 7 Manildra - 46 MW 9 8 Mortons Lane - 19.5 MW 9 Ross River - 93 MW 10 Taralga - 107 MW 11 Waterloo - 56 MW 12 Ballarat - 30MW/30MWh storage QLD Wind Solar Brisbane Storage SA NSW 3 7 11 1 Sydney Adelaide 4 10 5 6 12 VIC 2 Melbourne 8 Clean Energy fact sheet Information current as at December 2020 Clean energy portfolio Owned assets Ross River Solar Farm Located 20km south-east of Townsville, Queensland. The solar farm has about 413,000 panels with a total generating capacity of 116 MW. The project was developed by Palisade. Manildra Solar Farm Located 1km east of Manildra, NSW. The solar farm has about 466,000 panels and a total generating capacity of 46 MW. The project was developed by First Solar. Gannawarra Solar Farm and Battery Storage Located in north-west Victoria, the solar farm combines 50 MW capacity with a 25 MW/50 MWh Tesla battery storage system. The facility can power Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm around 25,000 homes annually, including managing Located in South Australia with 33 wind turbines with peak demand. EnergyAustralia holds the rights to the total generating capacity of 66 MW. Cathedral Rocks solar farm output and to charge and dispatch energy is a joint-venture project between EnergyAustralia and from the battery storage system until 2030. The Spanish renewable energy company, Acciona Energy. battery storage project was backed by the Victorian Government and ARENA under the Victorian Energy Power purchase agreements Storage Initiative. Mortons Lane Wind Farm Located in western Victoria, about 38km east of Hamilton. It has 13 wind turbines and total generating capacity up to 19.5 MW. Taralga Wind Farm Located in the Southern Tablelands of NSW. The wind farm’s 51 turbines have a total generation capacity of 107 MW of clean renewable energy. Boco Wind Farm Located 10km south-west of Nimmitabel in NSW. Its 67 turbines generate up to 113 MW of renewable energy. Gullen Range Wind Farm Located in the Southern Tablelands of NSW. At full output, its 73 turbines can generate 165.5 MW Ballarat Battery Storage of electricity. Located at the Ausnet terminal station, the Waterloo Wind Farm 30 MW/30 MWh Fluence battery storage system can Located in the Tothill Belt, SA. Operating since power more than 20,000 homes for an hour of peak October 2010, it has 43 turbines mounted on 80m demand before being recharged. EnergyAustralia high towers with a generation capacity of 130 MW. holds rights to charge and dispatch the energy until 2033. The battery storage project was backed by the Bodangora Wind Farm Victorian Government and ARENA under the Victorian Located near Wellington in NSW it has 33 turbines Energy Storage Initiative. and a total generating capacity of 113 MW. The project was developed by Infigen Energy. Coleambally Solar Farm Located 5km north of Coleambally in NSW. The solar farm has about 560,000 panels and a total generating capacity of 150 MW. The project was developed by Neoen..