THE GREEN NEW DEAL LACKS ANBITION:

It would be nice to think that the federal Liberal Party could share a similar vision. But whether clouded by the interests of ideologues or donors, or the fossil fuel industry, the federal Coalition won't contemplate the idea that a renewables based grid could be made to work. Like a petulant child struggling with Lego blocks, it can't imagine what the finished product might be.

South Australia is happy to show them, Having closed down its coal plant in 2016, and supported the introduction of the country's first big battery in 2017, the state has arguably the country's most reliable grid, and in the last six months one of the cheapest on the wholesale market. And it is producing well in excess of 50 per cent of its electricity consumption from wind and solar.

Pretty soon, it might be providing the equivalent of close to 100 per cent of its electricity consumption from variable renewables, even allowing for the times when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine.

The state Liberal government aims to reach "net 100 per cent renewables" - effectively producing the annual equivalent of its consumption with wind and solar, and using a new link to NSW to help it export the excess, and import when needed - by around 2030.

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