CANBERRA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government's infrastructure adviser has listed renewable energy zones and dispatchable energy storage as priority projects for the first time.
Infrastructure Australia on Friday released its annual national Infrastructure Priority List, including 44 new projects that the agency said reflected the country's changing needs in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
The new proposals represent a combined 59 billion Australian dollars (46.4 billion U.S. dollars) of potential investment.
"We have added a record 44 new proposals to the priority list for consideration by Australia's governments across the broad spectrum of transport, energy, water, waste, telecommunications and social infrastructure," Romilly Madew, the chief executive of Infrastructure Australia, said in a media release.
"More than half of the investment opportunities on the 2021 priority list benefit our regional communities, as we continue to draw focus on equitable service delivery and investments that will deliver affordable and quality infrastructure services for all Australians regardless of where they live."
The report found that the national electricity market (NEM) required "significant investments in dispatchable energy storage to support growing renewable energy generation and the future retirement of coal-fired generators."
It listed hydrogen infrastructure as a priority within the next five years due to "growing interest in the production and use of green hydrogen as an energy source, as it produces no carbon emissions."
The federal government identified hydrogen as one of five priority low-emissions technologies for the next 10 years in its Technology Investment Roadmap, which was released in September 2020.
In addition to renewable energy projects, the agency also added improving the digital connectivity of rural Australia and expanding telehealth services as priorities.
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