Abstract
AbstractThe Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has provided grant funding to 18 off‐grid and fringe‐of‐grid renewable energy projects under the Regional Australia's Renewables (RAR) program since 2013. This program was designed to address real and perceived risks associated with early stage, precommercial renewable energy development and provide a foundation of demonstration projects to enable the development of a competitive renewable energy sector. These projects range from low to high renewable energy fractions at megawatt scale in remote regions of Australia and encompass a variety of sectors, such as mining, tourism, and remote communities. All projects use photovoltaic as a key technology, often supplemented by additional technologies. The experience from these projects shows that land acquisition, technical integration, stakeholder engagement, and access to finance are among the main reasons for project delivery delays. A qualitative assessment for the remoteness premium is given, based on a comparison of ARENA‐funded on‐grid and off‐grid projects. This indicates that the structural barriers of governance, supply chains, and finance need to be tackled further to lower soft costs. One of the key enablers for future lower renewable energy costs is ARENA's Knowledge Sharing model, through which the funding agency is recompensed by data and information that is provided to the market and increases the impact of ARENA funding.
Highlights
Estimates for the number of people with limited or no access to reliable electricity are more than 1.2 billion.[1,2] Predominantly, these people live in high‐insolation areas, such as sub‐Saharan Africa and India.[2]
One of the key enablers for future lower renewable energy costs is Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)'s Knowledge Sharing model, through which the funding agency is recompensed by data and information that is provided to the market and increases the impact of ARENA funding
It was within this context of rapidly improving economics of solar and wind, and the expectation that these technologies were cost competitive in many parts of regional Australia, that the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) launched the Regional Australia's Renewables (RAR) program in 2013
Summary
Estimates for the number of people with limited or no access to reliable (on‐grid) electricity are more than 1.2 billion.[1,2] Predominantly, these people live in high‐insolation areas, such as sub‐Saharan Africa and India.[2]. The 2 years leading up to the launch of the RAR program in 2013 saw the price of crude oil climb to over US$100/barrel and hold steady.[11] In 2012/2013, remote and regional areas of Australia had (and continue to have) some of the highest marginal costs of generation anywhere in Australia, because of reliance on diesel‐powered and gas‐ powered generation These combined cost fundamentals underpinned the assumption that renewable energy would likely be competitive with diesel on a pure cost basis, once derisked via demonstration projects. Attempting to answering a shared need of mines and remote communities for reliable and less volatile costs for power supply, it was expected that a self‐sustaining remote power supply market could develop, if renewable energy projects funded by ARENA's RAR program could shine a light on and tackle the structural barriers of governance, supply chains, and access to finance, through pilot projects serving mining and off‐grid communities. Australian Renewable Energy Agency's funding for the RAR program followed a stage‐gate process that is still ongoing: 1. Expression of interest: Applicants were invited to submit a preliminary project proposal
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