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Shipping Sunshine Series – The Australian Climate Case: Net Zero Emissions by 2050?

According to the Net Zero Australia (NZAu) project, Australia will require an estimated 40 times the current total generation capacity of its national electricity market (NEM) to achieve Net Zero by 2050. This includes a projected 1900 GW of solar capacity and 174 GW of both onshore and offshore wind capacity.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗘𝗧 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀:

✅ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵: Net Zero by 2050

✅ 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: 12GW Renewables by 2030

✅ 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: 80% RET by 2035

✅ 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮: 95% RET by 2035

✅ 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮: 100% RET by 2030

✅ 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮: 200% RET by 2040

𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀

➰ 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗥𝗪𝗡)

The government plans to invest A$20 billion to rebuild and modernise Australia’s electricity network, to allow and grow the renewables share of the National Electricity Market (NEM) to 82% by 2030 by:

  • Investing A$224 million in 400 community batteries.
  • Investing A$102 million to deliver 85 solar banks.

🚗 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗩𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆

Currently in consultation, the EV strategy will:

  • Encourage a rapid increase of EVs by making them more accessible and affordable.
  • Establish and support the infrastructure to support EV use.
  • Establish a A$500 million Driving the Nation Fund.

💰 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 (𝗡𝗥𝗙)

Up to A$3 billion from the A$15 billion NRF will be directed toward clean energy investment such as:

  • Wind turbine manufacturing
  • Battery and solar panel supply chain and manufacturing
  • Modernising steel and aluminium manufacturing
  • Hydrogen electrolysers
  • Bioenergy and biomass
  • Innovative packaging solutions for waste reduction
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Further reading: October Budget 2022-23 – Reducing emissions and addressing climate change (dcceew.gov.au)

𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

You can read more on Australia’s international net zero partnerships here.

About: Nur Sidki Gomez is a Board Member and Head of International Policy at Professionals in International Trade (PIT). Nur brings 18+ years consultancy experience in foreign direct investment attraction, trade and developing whole-of-government strategies to support local emerging industries. A passionate advocate for sector-wide collaboration, Nur’s career in Australia has spanned from managing an agbiotech startup to leading and implementing the technology investment strategy for the Greater Brisbane region, as well as taking a deep dive into all things AI as part of the Queensland AI Hub and former Founding Director of the Australia AI Collective (AAIC). Having previously served as Investment Team Leader, Life Sciences and Agribusiness, for the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) in Germany, Nur has most recently rejoined the agency as Senior Investment Advisor – Europe, Middle East and Africa, at its Austrade office in Brisbane, Queensland. Nur holds a double degree in business administration – a BBA in International Management from the Rotterdam Business School (Netherlands) and a BBA in European Business from the Centro Europeo Superior de Dirección y Administración de Empresas (Spain). A native Spanish and English speaker, Nur is fully fluent in German and is at ease working in French and Bulgarian.