Australian Government Announces Enhanced Renewable Energy Target Scheme

A joint press release at the Australian Government website announced that the country's Renewable Energy Target scheme "will be enhanced to provide greater certainty for households, employees and businesses within the renewable energy industry, as we build the low pollution economy of the future". The revised arrangements will reportedly deliver on the Government's 20 percent by 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET). Beginning January 2010, the existing scheme will include two parts: (1) the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and (2) the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). "The LRET, will cover large-scale renewable energy projects like wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal, will deliver the vast majority of the 2020 target. This will free these projects from uncertainties that may have been caused by strong demand for small-scale renewable technologies. The SRES will cover small-scale technologies such as solar panels and solar hot water systems and deliver the remainder of the target. It will provide a fixed price of $40 per megawatt hour of electricity produced, providing direct support for households that take action to reduce emissions". The changes are expected (2) to deliver more renewable energy than the original 20 per cent target, (2) to ensure the building of a clean energy future for Australia, and (3) new jobs and investment in both large and small-scale renewable energy projects.

Related information: Australia's Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) Scheme http://www.orer.gov.au/publications/pubs/mret-thebasics-0709.pdf