Well, who’d have thought it. Back in 2014, Australia only had 40MW of ground-mount systems, including Royalla the largest at 20MW and Greenough at 10MW. In the space of three years, everything has been transformed and we’ve now got 20 projects in operation totalling over 400MW, and we’re now sitting on a pipeline of over 190 projects totalling almost 23,000MW.

As seen below, the lion’s share of the projects are based in Queensland, which alone has seen almost 10GW of projects announced.

What’s the upshot of all of this?

Solar Power could meet the 33,000 GWh RET on its own.

If every PV project proposed were to proceed, they would generate a combined 34.5GWh or more per year. Considering that the RET is for 33,000 GWh, therefore solar power could meet the RET on its own.

Of course, this wouldn’t happen in reality. There were 20.8 GWh worth of LGCs registered in 2017, so if every proposed solar farm was developed then there would actually be 55.3 GWh of RET-eligible renewable generation, putting aside the wind farms and other renewable technologies currently under development.

The CER advised us that the RET was already met by projects under advanced stages of development, but all of this points to the RET potentially being dramatically oversubscribed. Which raises the question:

What will happen to the LGC price when the RET is met? The banks and other financiers need to keep a close eye on the development pipeline, as once the RET is ‘met’, any surplus LGC supply could send the LGC price to the floor.
Which projects will be the ones that get financed and therefore proceed? Project developers need to keep an eye on their competitors’ progress, so they’re not left holding ‘dud’ projects.
How will post-2020 C&I installations affect solar farms in operation, and the development pipeline? ‘Behind the meter’ C&I projects larger than 100kW are eligible for LGCs but shielded from the merit-order-effect that will depress wholesale electricity prices during sunlight hours. And the high electricity prices paid by C&I customers are likely to justify investment in PV even without LGC revenue, from 2020. All of which will dampen the power and LGC prices solar farms could expect to get, whether by PPA or on the spot market (merchant).
What will happen to the rest of the projects in the development pipeline? Its possible that they could turn to corporate PPAs, a strategy that Infigen has recently announced and Telstra is a clear example of a large corporate counterparty willing to contract energy via PPA. However, there will be significant challenges to tackling this market

Whatever happens, this space is moving quickly, its critical to remain abreast and informed about market developments. SunWiz and RenewEconomy’s Large Scale Lookout subscription provides access to solar farm market analysis, news summary, the full details of each individual project, and much much more. Visit http://reneweconomy.com.au/large-scale-lookout-australian-solar-database/ for more information.

Interval Meter Data Tool Disclaimer

The Interval Meter Data Tool is designed to convert standard form meter data for the OpenSolar platform.

Users are responsible for meeting the requirements of the data that needs to be uploaded to the tool, which extends to but is not limited to

The completeness and accuracy of the data
Ensuring that there are no missing records
Uploading the data in one of the compatible intervals (15m, 30m or 1h).

Data uploaded to the Interval Meter Data Tool should not contain multiple datasets. In the case an excel file is uploaded, only the first sheet will be considered.

The accuracy of the output is dependent on the user’s dataset, therefore SunWiz does not guarantee the accuracy of the output.

The user must acknowledge that the output of the tool is beyond the control of SunWiz, and they must ensure that the data is accurate on their own behalf.

In the event that the program runs into an issue, the user will be issued with warnings or solutions to address or resolve the issue.

If the user requires additional support, they can avail it as a separate service from SunWiz

Warranties on performance

The Interval Meter Data tool from SunWiz attempts to convert most frequently occurring types of standard meter data file types in specific formats for the purpose of being used on the OpenSolar platform. Unless mentioned otherwise, SunWiz does not extend any guarantee of any kind, either expressed or implied, on the limited success of the Interval Meter Data Tool and the extent of it’s automation. Depending on the user’s upload, the program may require additional inputs, the training for which is not included in the purchase of this service and can be purchased separately.

Input requirements

The Interval Meter Data Tool accepts data in the 15-minute, 30-minute and 60-minute(hourly) intervals. In case the file is uploaded in an excel format (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm), only the first sheet of the file will be considered. Our tool is required to accept raw meter data, usually highlighted as ‘E’ data in its standard format; and therefore SunWiz does not guarantee that all data formats will be accepted.

For complete automation, the file must adhere to an acceptable standard format. In the case of an issue, the user will be provided with instructions by the tool on how it can be resolved. Warnings will be issued if the data is incompatible, incomplete with missing records and if multiple datasets are uploaded at once.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30

Proposed Solar Farms could meet the RET single-handed

Solar Power could meet the 33,000 GWh RET on its own.

Interval Meter Data Tool Disclaimer

Warranties on performance

Quality of inputs

Input requirements

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