Antinuclear

Solar energy in Australia great potential, poor political support

Australia’s annual solar irradiation stands at approximately 58 million petajoules, enough to provide 10,000 times its entire annual electricity consumption. In order to fully benefit from this resource, however, it needs to do much more than relying on a patchwork of schemes……a national feed-in tariff may be desirable from manufacturers’ perspective, it is currently not a political priority,…..

Australia: enthusiastic uptake of solar power leads to cuts in state feed-in tariffs iStockAnalysts,  November 10, 2010 Residential solar power installations in New South Wales reached 52MW by mid-2010, prompting the state government to reduce its generous feed-in tariff.

While this is a blow to property owners hoping to invest in renewable energy, it is also a natural part of any feed-in tariff scheme. Still, to maximize its solar resources, Australia must find ways to build on consumer interest in micro-schemes.

In January 2010, the New South Wales government launched one of Australia’s most supportive feed-in tariffs. By October 2010, over 50,000 customers had joined the scheme, adding more than 100MW of renewable energy capacity (with many more applications still waiting to be connected). The state pays A$0.60 per kWh for electricity fed into the grid from micro-power schemes, such as solar photovoltaic cells or mini wind turbines on rooftops. Having reached the threshold in July, the state government was required to complete a statutory review of the scheme, and subsequently chose to cut the rate for new entrants to the scheme to A$0.20 per kWh…….

Almost all of Australia’s states and territories offer comparable feed-in tariff schemes; uptake has been greatest in New South Wales and Queensland. Australia’s annual solar irradiation stands at approximately 58 million petajoules, enough to provide 10,000 times its entire annual electricity consumption. In order to fully benefit from this resource, however, it needs to do much more than relying on a patchwork of schemes.

An earlier proposal to incentivize renewable energy installation through a national feed-in tariff scheme failed to be implemented. Although a national feed-in tariff may be desirable from manufacturers’ perspective, it is currently not a political priority,…..

Australia: enthusiastic uptake of solar power leads to cuts in state feed-in tariffs

November 11, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, solar | Australia, climate change, energy, renewable, solar