States of transition – Renewable energy progress across Australian jurisdictions

The renewable energy transition is well underway in Australia, but the deployment of renewable energy generation, storage and transmission infrastructure needs to accelerate to keep pace with net zero requirements. We analysed deployment progress to date, build rates and pipeline capacity across Australian jurisdictions to understand how each jurisdiction is tracking towards renewable energy targets. Common Capital was engaged by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Environment Victoria, Queensland Conservation Council, Environment Tasmania, Conservation Council of Western Australia and Environment Centre Northern Territory to undertake this study.

Key takeaways

  • Despite progress on renewable energy deployment, all jurisdictions need to do more to meet future demand based on anticipated electricity requirements in 2030 and 2050. This will involve accelerating the speed and scale of renewable generation and storage deployment.
  • Most jurisdictions have more than enough publicly announced pipeline renewable capacity to meet 2030 and 2050 electricity requirements, although on average less than 12% of that capacity is under construction.
  • The key task for policy makers is unlocking the pipeline capacity and accelerating deployment while ensuring community and environmental concerns are properly considered.
  • There is an opportunity to considerably increase rooftop PV deployment in all jurisdictions. Increasing consumer energy resources uptake can provide significant public and private benefits.