What percentage of the population lives in climates like yours? If I had to guess, maybe something like 10-20% of the worlds population?
My gut tells me the vast majority of the worlds population lives in locations that are more similar to Australia's climate than in climates like yours. So we start there, and overtime things get cheaper, we find better solutions to long duration storage, and then we start tackling the harder climates/geographies.
Many of the countries with climate similar to Australia do not have the purchasing power of most northern countries, so they're currently building new cold power at a rapid pace.
My gut tells me the vast majority of the worlds population lives in locations that are more similar to Australia's climate than in climates like yours. So we start there, and overtime things get cheaper, we find better solutions to long duration storage, and then we start tackling the harder climates/geographies.