Antinuclear

Australian politicians not keeping up with the renewable energy trend

Australia’s large-scale renewables ambition dashed by policy vacuum  REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 24 July 2013   If the Australian renewables industry was looking for affirmation from Australia’s two mainstream parties at the industry’s major annual conference this week, then it might have been disappointed. Instead, it appears destined for yet more uncertainty and a less ambitious conclusion.

An industry that is craving some level of “policy certainty” may have to wait another year or 18 months, depending on the result of the upcoming election, and there is growing concern that the ability of Australia to meet its minimum 20 per cent renewable energy target is becoming increasingly difficult. So much so that some in the industry appear ready to accept a delay in the target’s deadline.

Over the next seven years, more than $20 billion is expected to be spent on new wind farms, solar farms and other large-scale renewable energy projects – not counting the billions of dollars that are expected to be invested by households in rooftop solar.

All this was to be built to meet the fixed renewable energy target of 41,000GWh, which is supposedly a bi-partisan goal. Right now, however, while households continue to invest heavily in rooftop solar because it saves them money from their electricity bills, a lot of the large-scale investment is at a standstill.

This is due to the uncertainty created by the upcoming election, the insistence of the Coalition in having yet another review of the renewable energy target in 2014, and the failure of Labor to legislate for that review to be held in 2016 – as was recommended by the Climate Change Authority’s review of the RET, which was completed just seven months ago.

Further adding to the problems for renewables is the decision to move more quickly to an emissions trading scheme, which will result in a higher price for renewable energy certificates, and a complication of the politics around renewables, if the carbon price stays low…….

David Green, the CEO of the Clean Energy Council, said earlier that the two-year review was a recipe for instability for the market. One wonders if the industry regrets not pushing Labor to take on the Opposition and put the four-year review to a parliamentary test, given the uncertainty that is now created, and the growing possibility that a target will be diluted or deferred.

But Green, and Fraser, noted how the energy industry is changing – mostly as a result of the rooftop solar and the growth of “distributed generation”.

“The structure of the energy industry is changing,” Green said.  It was moving from large-scale investment in pipes and poles to more active engagement with consumers, and more smaller-scale investments, embedded in the system. “We are beginning to shift the way we use electricity and the other fuels in the industry,” he said..  http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/australias-large-scale-renewables-ambition-dashed-by-policy-vacuum-26250

July 25, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, election 2013, energy