Part 1 – Renewable energy generation
As at November 2009, there were 305 renewable power generation projects (of greater than 100kW in size) operating in Australia representing 10,629 MW of installed capacity. The total installed capacity of all power stations including renewable and fossil fuel is 65,085MW.
Installed capacity is a measure of the total capacity or “nameplate” capacity of a power plant and is measured in megawatts (MW). The installed capacity of a power plant is different to the actual electricity that is produced by the power plant. For example hydro power plants have been generating significantly less electricity than they are capable of according to their installed or nameplate capacity due to low rainfall in dam areas.
The Australian energy industry generated 229 terawatt hours of electricity in 2007–08. Renewable energy comprised around 6.5 per cent of electricity generated for public consumption in 2006–7, but fell to 5.8 per cent of electricity in 2007–08: the result of lower rainfalls in key hydro catchments.
