03/13/2010
Australia - REC scheme is splitted to release $19n of projects
Australia is splitting its clean energy scheme to separate the household market from large renewable project investments in a move that could help unlock $19bn of stalled wind and solar energy projects.
The split, from January 2011, is aimed at restarting Australia's troubled scheme requiring 20% of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, but which has so far failed to support a single major project in the six months since it was passed. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says: "These changes are expected to deliver more renewable energy than the original 20% target and will ensure we build the clean energy future Australia needs."
The scheme was introduced to reduce Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity and set a target of developing 45,000 gigawatt hours (GW/h) of clean power over the next decade. It required major energy companies to buy tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates( RECs) each representing one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from renewable energy. The market in RECS was supposed to underpin the financial viability of around A$22bn ($19bn) worth of planned wind farms and other large renewable energy projects.
But their value slumped to around A$30, from a peak of A$53, as the government used them to reward households that installed solar hot water panels and heat pumps, flooding the market with cheap certificates and reducing their worth to large-scale projects.
The new plan is to split the programme into a Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and a Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). Wong says 41,000 GW/h of the total 45,000 GW/h must now be met only by large-scale projects, giving additional certainty to investors. REC values jumped to around A$42.50 after the government announced the changes.
Analysts say it is unclear exactly how the new scheme will work, and add that Australia may still end up with a two-tier renewable energy market.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
The split, from January 2011, is aimed at restarting Australia's troubled scheme requiring 20% of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, but which has so far failed to support a single major project in the six months since it was passed. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says: "These changes are expected to deliver more renewable energy than the original 20% target and will ensure we build the clean energy future Australia needs."
The scheme was introduced to reduce Australia's reliance on coal-fired electricity and set a target of developing 45,000 gigawatt hours (GW/h) of clean power over the next decade. It required major energy companies to buy tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates( RECs) each representing one megawatt-hour of electricity generated from renewable energy. The market in RECS was supposed to underpin the financial viability of around A$22bn ($19bn) worth of planned wind farms and other large renewable energy projects.
But their value slumped to around A$30, from a peak of A$53, as the government used them to reward households that installed solar hot water panels and heat pumps, flooding the market with cheap certificates and reducing their worth to large-scale projects.
The new plan is to split the programme into a Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and a Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). Wong says 41,000 GW/h of the total 45,000 GW/h must now be met only by large-scale projects, giving additional certainty to investors. REC values jumped to around A$42.50 after the government announced the changes.
Analysts say it is unclear exactly how the new scheme will work, and add that Australia may still end up with a two-tier renewable energy market.
For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net
- Source:
- Online Editorial, www.windfair.net
- Author:
- Posted by Trevor Sievert, Online Editorial Journalist
- Email:
- ts@windfair.net
- Link:
- www.windfair.net/...
- Keywords:
- Wind energy, wind power, wind turbine, wind mill, offshore, onshore, wind farm, renewable energy
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