Soaring technology costs challenge 2030 climate targets
Soaring technology costs of 20 per cent in the past year are making it harder for Australia to roll out projects to reach its 2030 climate targets on the pathway to net zero by 2050.
While wind and solar remain the cheapest form of technology, according to the latest Gencost report, proponents of nuclear power, including federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, are adamant nuclear technologies must be on the table.
Solar power, such as the solar farm at Genex Power’s Kidston project in North Queensland, is the cheapest form of power. Brian Cassey
The increased costs of raw materials combined with a backlog of projects awaiting regulatory approvals has also raised the prospect that Australia might not reach its target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
As countries around the world rush to install gigawatts of solar and wind, the inflated costs of panels and wind turbines is not expected to ease until well into next decade.
The GenCost report – a collaboration between CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator – released in July provides a stark reminder of the challenges of the transition to net zero.
It reveals the capital costs of all technologies has increased by about 20 per cent since 2021-22, ranging from 9 per cent for solar to 35 per cent for onshore wind.
Other generation technologies hit with big cost increases include brown coal (22 per cent), black coal (24 per cent), large open cycle gas (24 per cent) and batteries (20 per cent).
CSIRO chief energy economist and GenCost lead author Paul Graham says the pandemic has resulted in lingering global supply chain constraints that raised the prices of raw materials in technology manufacturing as well as freight costs.
This has been exacerbated by the war in
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