Expansion of Capacity Investment Scheme a welcome step forward but more needs to be done

“Beyond Zero Emissions applauds Climate Change & Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s announcement of the expansion of the Capacity Investment Scheme today, however we must go further to lock in secure energy, as outlined in our Battery Supply Chain briefing paper. 

“Our research calls for 12GW of dispatchable capacity by 2030, and for 24GW by 2035. The expansion of the CIS to 9GW is a welcome step forward, but to keep in line with a 1.5c pathway, we will ultimately need greater ambition.

“It would be great to see this announcement back Australian Industry and create jobs onshore by including provisions in the scheme for Australian manufactured batteries. Australian businesses are already scaling up, and with the right support can be ready to deliver.

“We applaud the inclusion of variable sources in the Scheme. Our Deploy report showed that 64 GW of renewable energy generation is critical to setting Australia up to achieve 100% renewable energy generation by 2030. The support for an additional 23 GW of variable energy announced today will help drive us closer to this target.

“There are further opportunities to keep energy costs down for households and drive Australian manufacturing. We recommend extending the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme to include household batteries.”

- Heidi Lee, CEO, Beyond Zero Emissions