Page 6055 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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Today I am tabling proposed amendments to the Electricity (Renewable Energy Premium) Act 2008.
In June 2008, the Assembly passed landmark legislation that established the most forward looking and innovative electricity feed-in tariff scheme in the country.
This act was amended in February 2009 to simplify procedures and clarify operational issues that had become apparent during the implementation of the act.
The ACT electricity feed-in tariff scheme has proven to be an outstanding success with ACT households. From a base of 521 installations in March last year, there are currently almost 3,500 solar arrays on ACT roofs.
Photovoltaic, PV, systems have been installed in all of Canberra’s residential suburbs and by people from all walks of life. They have been embraced by householders, community groups and business owners interested in a renewable energy future for the ACT. The result has been the creation of around six megawatts of clean energy generating capacity in the territory.
It is pleasing to note that a significant number of ACT-based jobs can be directly attributed to the introduction of the ACT’s feed-in tariff. A recent survey of industry conducted by my department indicates that there are 35 businesses now delivering solar and other renewable energy generation equipment services to the ACT—an increase from just four when the scheme commenced. These businesses directly employ 150 full-time staff and draw upon a pool of another 120 subcontractors.
It is worth noting that almost 4.2 million kilowatt hours of clean energy was returned to the local grid up to 30 September this year. This contribution, just a fraction of what the scheme will ultimately deliver, is equivalent to the full annual electricity requirements of 513 ACT households. And it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 4,620 tonnes to date. In time, the scheme should provide renewable generation capacity to meet up to 25 per cent of the territory’s electricity needs.
When introducing the 2009 amendments, I flagged the government’s intention to undertake a review of the scheme with a view to encouraging the participation of larger scale generators. It is in this industry sector where the full benefits of reduced emissions and new employment and other economic opportunities will arise.
This review was undertaken earlier this year and in September I announced the government’s decision to expand the scheme.
The government proposes an expanded feed-in tariff scheme that will convert the existing household-level scheme to one that encompasses microgeneration, the existing household component, up to 30 kilowatts in capacity; a new category of medium generation, for generators between 30 and 200 kilowatts in capacity; and a new category of large generation, being any generator in excess of 200 kilowatts in capacity.
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