Events

Updated venue: Chisholm Theatrette (rm 305), Level 3, Babel Building 139

The Melbourne Energy Institute invites you to its second seminar in the Powering the Future series, presented by Jessamine Welsh from Spark-North East Link-D&C.

Solar power is central to decarbonisation, yet its deployment at scale continues to face practical, technical, and policy-related challenges. While costs have fallen and ambition has grown, increasing solar uptake requires more than just installing capacity, it depends on how projects and cities are planned, integrated, and supported across the broader energy system. A key consideration is the importance of early planning and engagement. Integrating solar into projects from the outset, alongside meaningful collaboration with communities, regulators, and industry, can significantly improve outcomes and reduce delays. At the same time, growing penetration of solar introduces new challenges for grid resilience, requiring careful attention to system stability, storage, and infrastructure upgrades to ensure reliability.

Policy and regulatory settings remain central to enabling investment at scale. This includes the design of connection processes, transmission planning frameworks, and market mechanisms that appropriately value flexibility, firming capacity, and essential system services. Clear and consistent policy signals are necessary to reduce risk and support efficient capital allocation across the sector. In parallel, emerging solar and hybrid technologies present opportunities to enhance performance and system integration but require robust demonstration and validation to achieve commercial readiness. Establishing credible proof-of-concept pathways is essential to de-risk innovation and inform future regulatory and market design.

Drawing on industry experience, including work with Yurringa Energy, this seminar will examine the intersection of technical constraints and policy levers shaping solar deployment, and identify priority areas for coordinated action across industry, government, and research.

Join us in person for an opportunity to meet Jessamine Welsh and speak with her after the session.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Melbourne Energy Institute and The University of Melbourne.

The Melbourne Energy Institute welcomes broad discussion. Please engage respectfully and considerately with all perspectives.