Australia’s renewable energy sector is within striking distance of matching national household power consumption, cranking out enough electricity to run 70% of homes last financial year, new figures show.

Matt Howell, who is the CEO of Australia’s largest electricity consumer – the Tomago Aluminium Smelter – thinks that Australia needs a new coal power plant. 

Australia’s booming rooftop solar market has hit a potential speed hump, with a sudden drop in the price of small scale renewable energy certificates, pushing up the cost of solar by around 10 per cent for households and small business and catching many installers unawares.

Australia’s electricity and gas prices have reached historic heights that are squeezing household budgets while threatening the very survival of some Australian manufacturers.

Over the years we’ve seen lobbyists and incumbent energy interests repeatedly proved badly wrong about the levels of renewable energy we could manage to achieve.