Review of Policy and Regulatory Options for Renewable Energy-Energy Storage Systems (RE-ESS) Developments in Australia
Description
The hypothesis of the review was to identify the policy and regulatory options for continuing Renewable Energy & Energy Storage Systems (RE-ESS) assets development within Australia. The data should be interpreted as an ensemble of policy and regulatory levers that, if adopted, would support the continuous development and growth of RE-ESS generation assets at the utility and local levels. The raw data was drawn from written stakeholder statements (business, government, individuals, NGOs) and pubic hearings (under oath)testimonies provided (and publicly released) during the federal inquiry into the Resilience of Australia's Electricity Infrastructure in the context of a Warming Global Environment. The data was processed using QSR NVivo (open and axial coding and testing) and MS Excel/CSV (database functions) software tools and noted the following: (1) There is a clear void in policy and regulatory instruments for RE-ESS assets development dating back to the early 2000s; (2) The analysis developed a functionally directed causal map of RE-ESS assets development policy and regulatory change options that could be expeditiously implemented in the near to medium term; (3) Policies and regulations are urgently required for RE-ESS assets developments that can respond to electricity demand variations at the local and regional levels (climate, population and business growth induced); (4) Financial incentives policies that apply to RE systems development should be extended to RE-ESS assets constructions as a priority action; (5) The closure and decline in coal fired power plant generation capacity will require a diverse national electricity generator fleet, including large scale RE-ESS assets; and (6) Future RE-ESS generation assets will be a critical component of Australia's national electricity network and the projected A$900 Billion grid investment out to 2050. In addition, the datasets also include the meta-analysis of extant government and industry studies into energy and electricity networks (BAU, Clean Energy Target National Energy Profiles and Energy Balances) and simulations of coal fired generation closure and capacity decline outcomes (generating capacity declination, carbon emissions, carbon emissions intensity) and local BTM ESS project cost and financial return outcomes (technology investment rates, payback periods, tariff factors, time of use, feed-in rates).