Climate Changed

Australia's Energy Guarantee Could ‘Decimate’ Wind, Solar: BNEF

PM Turnbull plan calls for emissions reduction of 28% by 2030
Government to debate national energy guarantee plan on Friday

A kangaroo hops between rows of solar panels at the Broken Hill Solar Plant, operated by AGL Energy Ltd. and constructed by First Solar Inc., in Broken Hill, Australia, on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. Broken Hill spawned the world's largest mining company and generated more than $75 billion in wealth. Now as its minerals ebb, Australia's longest-lived mining city is looking to tap a more abundant resource.Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

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By Perry Williams

November 23, 2017 at 6:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Australia’s proposed National Energy Guarantee program could slash investment in large-scale wind and solar projects if the government fails to boost its 2030 emissions-reduction target, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull government’s goal of reducing emissions by 28 percent by 2030 only requires an additional 1.5 gigawatts of new large-scale renewables, according to an estimate by BNEF. That target “could decimate large-scale wind and solar construction” while a 45 percent reduction target advocated by the opposition Labor party would “continue the current boom,” it said.