Antinuclear

Business Investment in Renewable Energy hit by government cuts to Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

ARENA Cuts Impact Renewable Energy Businesses  Business investment in Australia’s renewable energy sector will take a direct hit, with up to $5 billion of private funding at risk, as a result of the federal government’s decision to cut half a billion dollars from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.    Pro Bono, Wednesday, 21st September 2016 Ellie Cooper, Journalist Future Business Council executive director Tom Quinn said the government’s decision to cut funding to ARENA in the budget savings bill could have run-on effects on matched private-sector funding for renewable energy.

ARENA was saved from a worse fate, with the Coalition originally planning to strip $1.3 billion from the agency. Negotiations with the opposition secured $800 million in funding over the next five years.

But Quinn said the damage to the renewable energy sector would still be significant.

“The cuts to ARENA are shaking business confidence even further in the renewable energy space. This is a boom sector of this century, Australia’s got natural advantages in this space,” Quinn told Pro Bono Australia News.

“But the one thing holding back the industry is policy uncertainty created by hostile government actions.”

He said demand for renewable energy technology was “enormous”, with $329 billion invested globally in the sector last year.

But he said the role of ARENA was critical in launching renewable startups, growing viable businesses, and attracting local and international investment.

“If we’re talking about innovation in any new technology then early stage investment is critical, and that’s really where government comes in. Government has the ability to invest where the private sector can’t, and all too often that’s where Australia has let down its innovators and entrepreneurs,” he said.

“We haven’t got a good track record of backing early-stage innovation, and this is where ARENA was critical…….https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2016/09/arena-cuts-impact-renewable-energy-businesses/

September 23, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business, energy, politics