Solar Heats Up

Australian domestic energy use remained relatively steady in 2018-19, with wind and solar energy showing strong growth according to the latest edition of the annual Energy Account released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Director of the ABS Centre for Environment and Satellite Accounts, Jonathon Khoo said: “Solar energy saw record growth in 2018-19, with large scale solar projects coming online. Wind energy also showed strong growth, supplying more energy than hydro energy for the first time on record.”

The intensity of industry use decreased by 1 per cent, indicating that less energy was used for each dollar added to the Australian economy.

Household energy use also fell, with the average household using 2 per cent less energy in 2018-19 than in 2017-18.

“In real terms, households decreased their total energy usage by 7 PJs in 2018-19. To put this into context, a single PJ could provide 47,000 Australian homes with electricity for 12 months."

Energy export data showed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports continued to grow strongly, with export volumes increasing to 4,094 PJs in 2018-19, up 21 per cent from 2017-18.

LNG exceeded uranium export volumes, cementing its place as Australia’s second largest energy export.

Black coal, however, remained head of the pack, with 11,131 PJs of energy exported, a 3 per cent increase since 2017-18.