Forget nuclear: 5B says plunging price of PV means giga-scale solar farms the future for old coal plants, page-9

g'day willi. aus manufacturer Tindo has been making solar panels in Sth Aus for over a decade. they make Tier 1 panels which are cost competitive with Chinese and cheaper than German Tier 1 panels. https://tindosolar.com.au/about-us/about-tindo-solar/

the new plant Albanese is encouraging will be using automated manufacturing instead of hiring a lot of people. I don't know if this is good or the right direction but if it works out well it'll be a boost to Aus.

as for our energy cost, the main drivers of expensive energy are 2-fold: gas peaking plants and broken down coal fired generator plants where the boilers can't keep up the pressure and aged turbines keep breaking down.