{"id":64032,"date":"2022-08-02T05:57:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=64032"},"modified":"2022-08-02T05:57:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T19:27:43","slug":"westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/","title":{"rendered":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64033\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\" alt=\"Westpac - Renewable Energy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity-768x403.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Westpac last week announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity &#8211; from a wind farm in Victoria and a solar farm in South Australia.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Westpac signed up to the RE100 program in 2019, a global initiative bringing together major businesses pursuing 100% renewable electricity. As part of that, the bank committed to sourcing equivalent to all its electricity needs in Australia from clean energy sources by 2025.<\/p>\n<p>A significant chunk of Westpac&#8217;s electricity consumption is already being met by Bomen Solar Farm, near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales (depicted above). Westpac committed to purchase just over a quarter of the 120MW clean power station&#8217;s output under a 10 year agreement announced in 2019, and the supply agreement has been expanded.<\/p>\n<p>The new deals involve Ararat Wind Farm in Victoria, which has been operating since 2019, and Berri Solar Farm in South Australia; expected to be operational next year.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The latest deals will also offer the bank greater certainty on its electricity supply costs at a time of heightened price volatility across power markets, while helping to hit its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from operations by 85 per cent by 2025,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westpac.com.au\/news\/making-news\/2022\/07\/power-deals-push-westpac-closer-to-renewables-target\/\">states Westpac<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Prior to this deal, Westpac was sourcing equivalent to 45% of its global electricity consumption from renewable sources through the Bomen deal and onsite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/commercial-solar-guide.html\">commercial solar<\/a> installations. The new agreements provide an additional 38%, and the bank says it has plans in place to source the remaining 17% of electricity from renewables by 2025.<\/p>\n<h2>Further Distancing From Funding Fossil Fuels<\/h2>\n<p>Australia&#8217;s &#8220;Big 4&#8221; banks&#8217; continued investments in fossil fuels have been <a href=\"https:\/\/solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/fossil-fuels-banks-mb0902\/\">highlighted in the past<\/a> and continue to be an issue. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketforces.org.au\/info\/compare-bank-table\/\">According to MarketForces<\/a>, Westpac has loaned $6,689m to support fossil fuel projects globally since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westpac.com.au\/content\/dam\/public\/wbc\/documents\/pdf\/aw\/ic\/Westpac_Market_Update_27_July_22.pdf\">July Market Update<\/a> released last week, Westpac also announced further commitments to reduce the emissions intensity of its lending portfolios; made as part of joining the industry-led and United Nations-convened <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unepfi.org\/net-zero-banking\/\">Net-Zero Banking Alliance<\/a>. Members of the Alliance are committed to making their lending and investment portfolios &#8220;net-zero emissions&#8221; by 2050.<\/p>\n<p>Westpac said it would be targeting a 23 per cent reduction in its absolute financed emissions in the bank&#8217;s upstream oil and gas lending portfolio by 2030, relative to its 2021 exposure.\u00a0 It also reiterated commitment to cease lending to thermal coal mining by that year. In its industrials lending portfolio, Westpac&#8217;s priority is to reduce emissions intensity among its cement production customers.<\/p>\n<p>The bank says it will also continue boost its exposure to renewable energy.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRenewable power is the foundation of how (the economy) gets to net-zero by 2050. Our focus is therefore to finance and support all those renewable power initiatives,\u201d said Westpac Institutional Bank chief executive Anthony Miller.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>CEO Peter King said nearly 80 per cent of the bank&#8217;s power generation lending is to renewables. This milestone was reached late last year with the financing of three solar farms in New South Wales (Corowa, Junee, and Wagga). Collectively, the facilities will generate 220 GWh annually.<\/p>\n<p>Westpac&#8217;s methodology and approach for its 2030 lending portfolio targets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westpac.com.au\/content\/dam\/public\/wbc\/documents\/pdf\/aw\/ic\/net-zero-targets-methodology.pdf\">can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Westpac last week announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity &#8211; from a wind farm in Victoria and a solar farm in South Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":64033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\"},\"wordCount\":512,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; Storage News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\",\"name\":\"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Westpac - Renewable Energy\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"General Solar &amp; Storage News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes Blog\",\"description\":\"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"width\":592,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"SolarQuotes\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/\",\"https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\",\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Michael Bloch\"},\"description\":\"Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. He's been reporting on Australian and international solar energy news ever since.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/michael\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target","description":"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target","og_description":"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/","og_site_name":"SolarQuotes Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","article_published_time":"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Bloch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@solar_quotes","twitter_site":"@solar_quotes","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Bloch","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1"},"headline":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target","datePublished":"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/"},"wordCount":512,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","articleSection":["General Solar &amp; Storage News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/","name":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-01T19:27:43+00:00","description":"Westpac has announced new agreements that will see it provided with more clean electricity - from a wind farm in VIC and a solar farm in SA.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Westpac - Renewable Energy"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-renewable-energy-mb2576\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Westpac Closing In On Renewable Energy Target"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","name":"SolarQuotes Blog","description":"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization","name":"SolarQuotes","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","width":592,"height":600,"caption":"SolarQuotes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/","https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1","name":"Michael Bloch","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c65d1fbade4404d88617552594a54366d8ca4a78bd617a48e64f9340c0b5dc09?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","caption":"Michael Bloch"},"description":"Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. He's been reporting on Australian and international solar energy news ever since.","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/michael\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/westpac-solar-electricity.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-gEM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73532,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/westpac-rangebank-battery-mb2898\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":0},"title":"Westpac Gets Behind Victoria&#8217;s Rangebank Big Battery","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"April 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Australian \"Big 4\" bank Westpac announced yesterday it's one of the lead financiers for the delivery of Victoria's huge Rangebank Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Late last month, Macquarie Asset Management\u2019s Green Investment Group (GIG) and Shell Energy Operations (Shell Energy) announced they were teaming up on delivering a major\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Victoria's Rangebank big battery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/westpac-rangebank-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/westpac-rangebank-battery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/westpac-rangebank-battery.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/westpac-rangebank-battery.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/westpac-rangebank-battery.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52234,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-farms-community-mb2087\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":1},"title":"Solar Farms Do More Than Just Generate Clean Energy","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"July 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Beyond the clean electricity, jobs and associated economic activity, many solar farm projects provide other positive and ongoing benefits in their local communities. Solar farm projects are well-known for providing a sugar-hit of employment during their construction and it's not unusual for hundreds of jobs to be created during this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Community benefits from solar farms","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/solar-farm-community.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/solar-farm-community.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/solar-farm-community.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/solar-farm-community.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/solar-farm-community.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39537,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/renewables-coal-usa-mb1512\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":2},"title":"Renewables Trump Coal Power In The USA In April","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Renewable energy sources generated more electricity than coal power in the U.S. during April says the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Every. Single. Day. The IEEFA bases its assessment on data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and notes renewables beating coal actually began on March\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Renewable energy vs. coal","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/renewable-energy-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/renewable-energy-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/renewable-energy-coal.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/renewable-energy-coal.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/renewable-energy-coal.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46119,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/metz-solar-farm-mb1818\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":3},"title":"Financing Secured For NSW&#8217;s Metz Solar Farm","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has closed financing for the Metz Solar Farm project in New South Wales. Metz Solar Farm is a 115 MWac clean power station to be constructed at a site near Hillgrove, approximately 20 kilometres east of Armidale. Originally an Infinergy project, it was acquired by Clenergy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Metz solar farm financing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/metz-solar-farm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/metz-solar-farm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/metz-solar-farm.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/metz-solar-farm.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/metz-solar-farm.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17008,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/csu-solar-panel-installation-mb0319\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":4},"title":"Australia&#8217;s Largest Single Site Rooftop Solar Panel Installation Complete","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"November 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A 1.77-megawatt solar power installation at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, was officially opened on Monday. More than 6,000 solar panels have been installed on the rooftops of 17 buildings at the campus. The $3.2 million project will generate approximately 2,600,000 kilowatt hours of electricity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Charles Sturt University solar power system installation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/charles-sturt-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/charles-sturt-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/charles-sturt-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/charles-sturt-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34336,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/sydney-city-renewables-mb1262\/","url_meta":{"origin":64032,"position":5},"title":"City Of Sydney Council Signs Major Renewable Electricity Deal","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"City Of Sydney announced yesterday it had sealed a $60 million deal that will see all Council's electricity supplied from wind and solar energy sources from July next year. Back in March this year, City of Sydney committed to using 100 per cent renewables to meet all its electricity needs.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"City Of Sydney - Wind And Solar Energy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/city-sydney-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/city-sydney-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/city-sydney-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/city-sydney-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/city-sydney-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64034,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64032\/revisions\/64034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}