The growth in renewable energy across the globe continues to increase significantly. In 2015, China installed 30,500 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines and 16,500 MW of solar energy and Australia installed its 1.5 millionth solar photovoltaic (PV) system. To put this into perspective, it is estimated there are now as many solar panels on roofs as people in our country.
In Queensland, the total capacity of rooftop solar PV currently sits around 1450MW, making it the second largest “power station” behind only Gladstone. The Queensland Government recently announced a proposal to deliver 1000MW of renewable energy generation across 17 shortlisted projects. Government’s policy has set objectives of up to 50% renewable energy generation by 2030, including a target of one million solar rooftops – in other words, doubling our solar generation capacity to 3000MW by 2020. A Renewable Energy Taskforce will lead a public inquiry into how to achieve these objectives.
The integration of renewable energy sources into the traditional power grid brings with it many technical issues. At the distribution level, the effect that residential solar PV has on power quality within low voltage networks has been well publicised. Technical solutions such as static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs) and smart inverters with the capacity to improve power factor and support voltage have been developed to reduce network impacts and risks.
The broader grid-wide impacts of increasing renewable energy penetration have recently been highlighted in South Australia which currently has the highest wind and solar PV penetration of any region in the National Electricity Market. Synchronous fossil fuel based generation is being retired. A recent report by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and Electranet identified that under certain contingency conditions it is difficult to hold the system frequency of 50Hz required to maintain power system security. AEMO highlighted that a 10-year outlook is required when considering technical solutions, not only the short to near term.
As more renewable generation and new technologies such as energy storage systems are rolled out, it is essential technical analysis and studies are undertaken now to address the impacts and allow benefits to be fully realised. This applies across the whole spectrum from provider to customer to the performance of the whole system.
Sustainability outcomes and economic impacts are important considerations on the road to a lower carbon future but the direction of renewable energy will be influenced by engineering and technical issues. Investigations driven by engineering professionals are crucial to ensure our future energy supply systems are reliable and sustainable. All members of the engineering team have the skills and abilities to develop this future and need to play an active role.
Engineers Australia welcomes feedback from members on this important topic. Contact us today at the Queensland office.