Since
coming to power in September 2013 the Australian Federal Government, lead
by Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been on the offensive against
renewables. The Abbott government has advocated watering down the country’s RET,
the mechanism by which large and small scale renewable projects are
supported.
After
seeing no chance of its legislation being passed through the Senate, after the Labor Opposition and key minor parties supported the RET, the Abbott government
turned to Labor in an attempt to find a compromise on RET cuts and pass its
legislation. It now appears the attempt at compromise has failed, presenting
somewhat of a lifeline to the renewable sector.
The
Guardian reports that the Labor
environment spokesman, Mark Butler delivered a letter to the government’s
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane on Tuesday saying that his party would not
accept the cuts to the RET as they were proposed. In the letter Butler wrote
that Labor did not see, “any value in continuing discussions at this point in…
time.”
The
RET mandates 41,000 GWh of electricity be sourced from renewables by 2020. The
government had proposed cutting this to 26,00 GWh. According to reporting from
The Guardian, Labor was willing to negotiate a reduced figure in the mid to high
30,000 GWh, but this was rejected by the government.
The
Guardian notes that the delivery of the letter by Labor is likely timed to
embarrass the government ahead of the G20 meeting set to get underway in
Brisbane later this week.
Australian
Solar Council (ASC) lauds move
Australia’s
peak solar body, the ASC
congratulated the Labor opposition on the move saying that changes to the RET
are now impossible. ASC’s John Grimes said that despite government comments that
rooftop solar was safe in the
negotiations with the opposition, that was far from the case.
“Tony
Abbott will not be able to deliver the big win to the fossil fuel industry and
big power companies that he dearly wanted,” said Grimes in a statement. "The
Abbott Government remained intent on targeting rooftop solar in the Small-Scale
Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES). The plan was to cap the SRES (leading to an
annual boom and bust cycle), rapidly phase out the scheme, and lower the
threshold from 100 kW to 10 kW, all of which would decimate the solar industry,
and lock Australians into higher power bills.”
Lowering
the SRES threshold from 100 kW to 10 kW would have particularly devastating to
the commercial rooftop space.
The
SRES is, in effect, a subsidy in support of rooftop solar arrays. It is worth
around $750/kW (US$653). The average rooftop solar array in Australia is
between 3.5kW and 4.5kW, meaning the average subsidy is around $3,000
(US$2,612).
While
residential and commercial rooftop PV demand has
remained strong since the election of the Abbott government, investment in utility scale solar
has dropped away. While currently a number of projects are being built out, and
some being supported on a regional level such as in the Australian Capital
Territory, few new projects are being developed.
Australia’s
Climate Council released a report this
week in which is found investment in renewable energy, despite the strong
rooftop PV segment, has dropped 70% this year compared with 2013 figures.
The
Australian Solar Council has vowed to continue its, to date, highly effective
campaign in support of the sector. The Save Solar campaign has targeted marginal
electorates, in an attempt to spook government members and to demonstrate public
support for solar and renewables.
“Today
we announce our extraordinarily successful Save Solar campaign now turns into an
election campaign,” said the ASC’s Grimes. “We will forge smart alliances and
bring together disparate organizations under the Save Solar banner. Tony Abbott
- it seems nothing will change your anti-solar crusade. Ultimately the community
will decide.”
The
latest IHS forecasts show that Australia is set to install 800 MW of solar in
2014, with that dropping to 700 MW in 2015.
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