AusNet is helping progress Australia's journey towards a cleaner energy future, evidenced by the company's latest 2024 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Performance Update (PDF, 302 KB).
Last year AusNet released a Climate Change Position Statement and detailed Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report, with the goal of achieving net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2045. This year’s report updates the organisation’s performance across a range of climate change metrics.
AusNet Chief Executive Officer, David Smales, said AusNet’s targets support the Victorian Government’s renewable energy and emissions reduction agenda.
“We are committed to helping governments meet ambitious renewable energy targets and are pleased to be contributing to a cleaner energy future,” he said.
“The energy sector is the largest contributor to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, so as the operator of Victoria’s primary high-voltage transmission network, as well as electricity and gas distribution networks, we play an important role in decarbonisation,” said Mr Smales.
AusNet's progress towards a sustainable energy landscape is highlighted below.
- Significant emissions reduction: AusNet reported a 14 per cent decrease in emissions in 2022/23, compared to the 2021/22 baseline year. This reduction is largely due to a decrease in the grid emissions intensity, as electricity line losses comprise 85 per cent of our overall emissions. Electricity line losses are influenced by market and policy factors such as the variability of generator dispatch, consumption patterns, system configurations and climatic conditions.
- Connecting renewable energy to the grid: As of December 2023, AusNet had connected an additional 0.6GW of large-scale renewable energy and storage to its high-voltage transmission network, totalling 4.3GW, with another 2.6GW under construction. It also facilitated the connection of an extra 0.1GW of rooftop solar PV to the distribution network, totalling 1.0GW.
- Investing in network capacity: AusNet is actively working to increase network capacity to accommodate new renewable energy sources coming online. The Western Renewables Link is developing 3GW of new hosting capacity by building new transmission lines and removing constraints on existing infrastructure.
- Reducing in-house emissions: AusNet is committed to reducing emissions from its operations. The company has reduced its in-house emissions by 18 per cent in 2022/23, primarily by decreasing SF6 emissions from equipment and increasing the use of renewable energy in its facilities. AusNet has also transitioned to GreenPower, a government-accredited renewable energy product, for 70 per cent of its facilities’ electricity use.