Page 4386 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 25 October 2017
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Members have heard about the Finkel report, also called the Independent review into the future security of the national electricity market: blueprint for the future. It is the report that recommended the clean energy market that Malcolm Turnbull famously ignored, at Tony Abbott’s behest. The Finkel report emphasised the importance of solar panels and battery storage. The blueprint suggested providing customers with financial rewards if they agree to manage demand by sharing resources of solar panels and battery storage. It also noted the role that certain market participants can play by revising their electricity tariffs to better accommodate the participation of battery storage systems and allowing distributed energy resource aggregators to participate in the market.
These are the kinds of initiatives that consumers want to see. They allow them to exercise control over their electricity usage and costs. At the same time, they are able to alleviate demand on the broader electricity network. We are taking important first steps in this space, through the ACT’s battery program. I expect to be making more progress in the coming months and years. Following the success of the battery pilot scheme, the ACT announced it would invest $25 million to continue the program to 2020. As part of that, a second grants round was announced in June 2016, with a further $2 million made available among eight companies. The second grant round has seen a significant increase in the rate of residential battery installations, with over 300 batteries installed and a further 100 expected to be installed by the end of 2017.
Interest in battery technology has been increasing, and the number of installations and the rate of installation is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. Despite the federal government desperately trying to prop up old and failing systems based on polluting fossil fuels, what we see from these figures is that the public is looking ahead at the clean energy future. The ACT’s battery program will soon be providing one megawatt of distributed generation in the territory, making it potentially one of the largest sources of distributed generation in Australia.
A third grants round, which I announced in September this year, will award up to a further $4 million to continue the program’s success. The grants round will continue to award funds to battery installers through a competitive process to ensure that ACT customers continue to receive the best value for money and safe, reliable energy storage systems. I expect to announce the outcome of the third round in December this year.
The next generation energy storage program has a major emphasis on the development of the local renewable energy industry. Companies participating in the program have to demonstrate the benefits they will provide to the local renewable energy industry. To date, these benefits have included the development of local trades training, research and development partnerships, and bringing businesses and experienced personnel to the ACT.
This emphasis on the local economy forms part of the vision for Canberra to become a globally recognised centre for renewable energy innovation, investment and research. We can already see the impact of this vision. Renewable energy jobs in the
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