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RET Review Begins
17 February 2014
The Federal Government today announced the beginning of their review of Australia's Renewable Energy Target (RET), with an emphasis on evaluating its effectiveness and cost.
The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) believes this is an opportunity for the renewable energy industry to reiterate the substantial benefits a stable target has delivered - and will continue to deliver - to the Australian economy.
"The fixed renewable energy target has enjoyed bipartisan support for good reason since its inception under the Howard government. The RET represents over $18 billion dollars of investment, and has been a critical factor in creating a new, growing industry that is a competitive advantage for Australia," SEA Chief Executive Kirsten Rose said today.
The Terms of Reference for the RET review were released today, with Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane saying the review will consider the contribution of the RET in reducing emissions, its impact on electricity prices and energy markets, as well as its costs and benefits for the renewable energy sector, the manufacturing sector, and Australian households.
The Sustainable Energy Association is confident that the review will demonstrate that the benefits of the RET far outweigh the costs, which have been estimated to be less than five percent of an electricity bill.
"The RET encourages a diversity of energy sources and encourages us to capitalise on Australia's natural renewable resources. It is also helping push down the wholesale cost of electricity, which is a positive outcome for everyone, including industry," Ms Rose said.
"We're looking forward to participating in the Government's ‘open and transparent' process," says Ms Rose. "The renewable energy industry can demonstrate that the RET delivers a powerful outcome: jobs and investment, together with clean energy at lowest cost. That combination of benefits will be particularly attractive to Australians right now."
Media Contact:
Kirsten Rose, CEO
0434 920 486, ceo@seaaus.com.au
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New SEA Board Announced at 2013 AGM
The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) held its Annual General Meeting yesterday and is pleased to announce new members on its board.
SEA welcomes two new board members, Rodney Littlejohn, Managing Director of Tersum Energy (www.tersumenergy.com) and Antony Piccinini of FRV Services Australia (www.frv.com).
Rod and Antony fill board vacancies arising from the resignations of Alannah MacTiernan, the recently elected Federal Member for Perth, and Harry Porrins, a founding member of SEA.
Kelli Friar of Horizon Power and Sean Webb of UWA were re-elected to the board, and Board member Mike Laughton-Smith of Balance Services Group was elected Chairman. Ray Wills of Duda&Wills continues in his role as Deputy Chair.
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SEA 2013 Federal Election Policy Scorecard
The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) today
releases its 2013 Policy Scorecard in advance of the Federal election on 7
September. SEA's Scorecard evaluates the policies of the leading political
parties against the needs and objectives of the sustainable energy
industry. Download Scorecard here.
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Reversal of Feed in Tariff Decision a Victory for Solar PV and the Community
The Sustainable Energy
Association (www.seaaus.com.au) is delighted to
learn of the WA State Government's reversal of its decision to cut the
residential solar feed in tariff rate.
After four intense
days of public backlash, it is a victory for the community and for renewable
energy, SEA said today.
"The
Government wildly underestimated the anger this would generate in the community,
as we've seen over the last few days," said Chief Executive Kirsten
Rose.
"It
was an ill-considered decision in the first place. Reversing it is the right
thing to do. "Credit
to the WA Government for recognising the important role that residential solar
PV plays in reducing our demand for non-renewably generated electricity, and in
reducing the need for costly network upgrades."
"Our
hope is that this will further reinforce to governments -- in WA, across
Australia, and globally -- the high level of public support for renewable
energy."
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Solar PV Household Scorched by WA Budget Cuts, but Future of Solar Undimmed
The WA State Government's announcement that the residential solar feed in tariff rate will be dramatically cut is disappointing, regressive and a massive betrayal of public trust, the Sustainable Energy Association (www.seaaus.com.au) said today.
As part of its budget announcement today, the State Government plans to cut the net feed in tariff (FiT) rate from 40 cents to 20 cents per unit over the next year. This change will affect over 75,000 WA households that installed solar PV from mid-2010 to mid-2011 when the scheme was abruptly shut down. The Government says this cut will put approximately $35million back into State coffers.
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A Bright Future for Big Solar in Australia
The Federal Government's announcement that the southern hemisphere's largest solar power station will be built in NSW is fantastic news for renewable energy in Australia, the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) said today.
The solar PV project will be built across two sites in NSW - Nyngan (102MW) and Broken Hill
(53MW) and will begin construction in 2014. The installations will provide
power for over 50,000 homes and create an estimated 450 jobs in the renewable
energy industry.
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Retirement, Not Refurbishment for Old Power Plants
The Sustainable Energy Association of
Australia (www.seaaus.com.au)
welcomes the State Government's announcement that Kwinana Power Station Stage C
will be shut down from October 2015.
This news follows the Premier's
decision to abandon the attempted refurbishment of the 47-year old Muja A and B
plants and the disclosure today that the cost to taxpayers will be in the order
of $266 million.
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