On Friday, Australia’s federal and state energy ministers met for an extraordinary meeting following the complete loss of power in South Australia on September 28. The COAG Energy Council announced a wide-ranging independent review to provide advice to governments on a coordinated, national reform blueprint. The review will be chaired by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel.

One of the world’s leading energy analysts has raised concerns that the Australian federal government’s focus on “energy security” could simply be used as an excuse to go slow on renewable energy and hold back efforts on climate targets.

On Friday Australian energy ministers agreed to an investigation into the country’s energy security, stability, and affordability to be led by Commonwealth Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. While any decisions as to how to ensure the stability of Australia’s electricity grid are unlikely to be made before then, large-scale electrical storage could very well have a significant role to play.

Australia’s national solar PV market appears to be slowly rebounding, with rooftop solar installs in September 2016 reaching 66MW for the month, their highest level since July 2015, led by growth in the commercial market and particularly in South Australia.