Just days after the historic passing of Tasmania’s 200% renewable energy target by both houses of parliament, Tasmania has now officially reached 100% renewable generation capacity.
Other jurisdictions in Australia have already laid claim to using 100% renewable electricity. The ACT made their announcement in September last year, while Sydney announced they had switched to 100% renewable electricity in July this year. This is despite the ACT and Sydney generating very little of their own energy, and in reality still using the NSW power grid, which is mostly generated by coal. The claim of ‘100% renewable” can be made when the equivalent of the amount of fossil fuel generated electricity used is purchased from distant wind and solar farms.
The swelling numbers of regions and businesses (such as Woolworths, Telstra, Ikea and the Commonwealth Bank) pledging to move away from fossil fuel generated electricity, are adding momentum to the national transition to renewable energy. Woolworths alone annually consumes the equivalent of about a quarter of Tasmania’s entire renewable electricity generation.
As more large electricity consumers make the commitment to switch to renewable energy, without having the capacity to generate that energy themselves, the demand for additional renewable energy generation, and the transmission to connect it, will keep growing.