Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is now officially in the midst of a major energy transition to a carbon neutral future. In the last three years alone, over $30 billion has been invested in Australia in renewable energy. The Clean Energy Regulator's latest Quarterly carbon market report estimates total delivered additional renewable capacity for this year is likely to match the record 6.3 gigawatts set in 2019. This is something we should all welcome and celebrate. It's the equivalent of 920,000 homes putting solar panels on their roof every year.

Affordable reliable energy will be critical to re-establishing a strong economy and supporting jobs as Australia recovers from the COVID pandemic. To get emissions down, new technologies will need to be nurtured, developed and embraced right across all sectors of our economy, but many are not yet matured to the point where we can rely on them to the exclusion of current market players. Take battery storage, for example. Even in South Australia, where renewables now provide nearly half of the state's electricity needs, gas is still required for practically all of the other half, with less than 0.4 per cent provided by batteries. Some argue battery technology is ready for prime time, but this is simply not true. Currently, two hours of storage is the maximum a battery can provide in the National Electricity Market and our biggest battery only has enough storage for one hour and 15 minutes.

Grid reliability requires firming power for much longer, for instance, overnight when the sun is no longer shining. Batteries are not yet capable of providing this energy for extended periods. They can add to gas's firming power, but they can't yet replace it. That's not to say that research investment in battery technology is not incredibly important. The federal technology investment roadmap regards long-duration energy storage technology as one of its five priorities in technologies for bridging to a carbon neutral future. This includes a stretch goal to drive the technology to a point at which it becomes more competitive than existing alternatives.

Our goal for long-duration energy storage, for instance using batteries, to be dispatched at under $100 per megawatt hour would enable firmed wind and solar power to be delivered at prices around or below today's average wholesale price. By optimising technology, science can help ensure our push into advanced manufacturing is fuelled by cheap and clean energy, but we need a transitionary approach to unleashing technology advances. That is why I recommend that all members of this House obtain a copy of the Technology investment roadmap: First low emissions technology statement 2020 and read it thoroughly. Harnessing Australia's ingenuity and supporting the uptake of new and innovative technology is key to this government's recently released low-emissions technology statement. This statement is the first time this country has delivered a concrete plan for emerging technologies with real action. This will pave the way for a zero net carbon future. Australia's first low-emissions technology statement has resulted from deliberations by the ministerial reference panel, chaired by Australia's Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO, comprising of input from industry, private investment, government and research leaders. Recognising the panel's ongoing role in supporting future statements, it will be formalised and into a permanent technology investment advisory council, also chaired by Alan Finkel, who is stepping down after five years as a wonderful Chief Scientist of Australia.

Importantly, this technology plan has five stretch goals: clean hydrogen under $2 kilogram; technology storage, which is electricity from storage firming, under $100 per megawatt; low-carbon materials, which is low emissions steel production, under $900 per tonne; low-emissions aluminium under $2,700 per tonne; carbon capture and storage compression hub transport under $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide and soil carbon, which is to look at the measurement under $4 per hectare per year. By optimising technology, science can help ensure our push into advanced manufacturing is fuelled by clean and cheap energy, but we need a transitionary approach to unleashing technology advances. This is important now more than ever as we stretch to a post COVID world.