Renewable Energy

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Independent Senator Tim Storer, which means it succeeded. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own but since they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Australia in blessed with world-class renewable energy and energy storage resources,

(ii) the price of renewable energy continues to decline, setting new records year on year,

(iii) utility-scale wind and solar farms are the cheapest form of new-build electricity generation in Australia today,

(iv) Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world, with close to two million households having installed solar systems to help them to reduce their power bills, and

(v) South Australia's Honesdale Power Reserve, the world's biggest grid connected lithium-ion battery, is showing how new technology can put downward pressure on electricity prices and allow for the successful integration of high levels of wind and solar energy; and

(b) agrees that renewable energy, coupled with energy storage technologies, can provide "fair dinkum power" that is cheap, reliable and clean.