THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL SOLAR PV MARKET –THE POINT OF VIEW OF A VERTICALLY INTEGRATED UTILITY IN AUSTRALIA

摘要

The 1990s in Australia saw de-regulation of the electricity market, a substantial housing boom and adramatic increase in the installation of air-conditioning. Supply risks rapidly escalated as retailers managed growth in peak electricity demand of almost 6% per annum, volatile weather fluctuations and some of the cheapest electricity prices in the world. An unintended consequence of industry deregulation has been that the benefits solar PV can offer retailers in managing peak summer demands is essentially lost through disaggregation, undermining the capacity of retailers to reflect the integrated value of grid PV to customers. Further, Governments have not understood the strategic role that solar PV could play and ad hoc industry measures have been a further disincentive for retailers to consider solar PV as a real solution. More research must be done to quantify the strategic benefits of solar PV to overcome the hurdles imposed by electricity market reform.