Australia

Despite an abundance of solar radiation and high-quality wind sites, Australia has a
relatively low share of renewable energy generation, with 32.5% from renewable sources in 2021 (Clean Energy Council). Renewable power development in the country has been led primarily by commercial initiatives including rooftop solar and driven by increasing costs and unreliability of ageing fossil fuel plants and falling prices for electricity from renewables. Australia-wide, large-scale wind and solar added almost 3 GW of new renewable capacity in 2021. This is despite a national policy vacuum from the previous conservative government and at times intense political opposition from vested fossil fuel interests.

The research investigates the growth of renewables in the state of South Australia, a leader in the national renewable energy transition. South Australia has had a pro-renewables political leadership from both the major parties (the conservative Liberal-National Coalition and the social democratic Labor Party) since 2002. In 2021, 63% of electricity generation in South Australia was generated by non-hydro renewable energy sources, the largest proportion of any state in Australia. The state’s Energy Minister has proclaimed a 2030 goal of 100% net renewable energy, with policies to support electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of most of the gas network, mining and other heavy industries as well as green hydrogen.

Our study looks at the various conditions that affect the ‘social legitimacy’ of wind and solar projects in South Australia. We examine how government policy settings and international electricity markets shape the state’s energy transition, how people in renewable energy localities contribute to the politics of energy and climate action, and the extent to which renewable development can contribute to sustained and equitable socioeconomic transformation in the communities they are a part of, and the state as a whole.

Community-based field research focuses on the Upper Spencer Gulf region, which includes the three local government areas of Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla, all of which have excellent wind and solar resources as well as marked social-economic disadvantage compared to state and national indicators. The Upper Spencer Gulf is historically a provider of the state’s now terminated coal-fired power, and a heavy industry region. It is currently an important site for large-scale renewable projects. Our ethnographic research considers questions about the social legitimacy of energy transition, including: how do renewable developments reconfigure the socio-ecological relations of heavy industry and power generation that once defined the Upper Spencer Gulf?; How, if at all, are host communities capturing some of the wealth of the new industry?; How are Aboriginal residents and Native Title landholders benefitting? Is renewable energy contributing to a sustainable and more equitable local economy? Are new forms of civil society emerging as part of the energy transition?

Australia has a low share of renewable energy generation despite its abundance of solar radiation.

Renewable power development in the Australia has been led primarily by commercial initiatives.