How Australian Politics Affect Renewable Energy’s Affordability
It is apparent that energy and climate change issues such as the RET (Renewable Energy Target), National Energy Guarantee and the recent energy price crisis have been critical topics of Australian politics recently.
Malcolm Turnbull’s loss of his prime ministership was signified by energy issues. Victorian election in late November 2018 is even being touted by some as an election that will be a referendum on solar and smart energy.
The intention of this article is not to dive into political discussions, rather it will highlight a couple of examples of energy programs that are of interest to households and businesses.
State - Victoria
Under the rule of Premier Daniel Andrews and energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio, the state has legislated a renewable energy target of 40 per cent by 2025, and delivered 928 MW of renewable energy through reverse auction. And the household-friendly Solar Homes Package has proven a big hit, placing the state at the forefront of renewable energy action.
If re-elected the Labor Party will lift its renewables target to 50 per cent by 2030 and offer half-price solar panels for 650,000 homes, with half-price solar batteries for 10,000 Victorian homes. Also on offer is a $1000 rebate for solar hot water systems for 60,000 homes, and 50,000 rebates on solar panels for Victorian renters.
Thousands of homeowners have already signed up for the recent Solar Victoria’s rebate of (up to) 50 per cent of the cost of a solar panel system, marking this program’s success.
State - New South Wales
With NSW heading to the polls early next year, a raft of programs have been announced including the Smart Energy for Homes and Businesses program that comes with a $1000 sweetener for those with solar and storage.
This program will bring together smart energy technologies in NSW homes and businesses to form a distributed power plant with a demand response capability of up to 200 MW, to help manage peak demand on the grid.
How it operates: the $50 million program will reward smart energy homes and businesses for feeding their energy into the grid or reducing energy usage at the times we need it most, such as on the hottest summer days.
State - Queensland
The next wave of Queensland’s “renewable revolution” kicked off in November 2018 when battery grants became available for households and small businesses to install batteries to store their solar power. The incentive could result in another 1500 to 2500 battery storage systems in the state.
Federal
Should Labor gain power at the next federal election the party will lift the emissions reductions target from 26 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030 and offer a Household Battery Program that will lead to one million battery storage systems in Australia by 2025. Other key elements include reverse auctions to support the party’s 50 per cent renewable energy target for 2030, and an additional $10 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
The Liberals and the Greens have also proposed their own energy plans outlined here
The bottom line is there is a few incentives (‘rebates’) and funding available from different governments to make solar very easily accessible to your residential, commercial and industrial properties. Contact our experts now to learn how to access these.
Source: https://www.smartenergy.org.au