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Solar industry snapshot
• Solar energy now costs less than $30/MWh in many
major economies, causing an irreversible energy
switch away from existing fossil fuel plants to cheaper
renewable energy.
Australia's national renewable energy target (RET)
remains at 20% renewable energy by 2020. However,
despite a recommendation by the recent Finkel Review
to introduce a clean energy target beyond this date, the
Federal Government has instead proposed a National
Energy Guarantee (NEG) which has been met with
mixed reviews in the market. It is proposed that the
policy will be finalised in 2018, with the reliability
guarantee to become effective by the end of 2019 and
the emissions guarantee by the end of 2020.
• In recent years, the implementation of renewable
energy targets in a number of Australian states and
territories has driven investment and development
in medium and large scale solar PV (and wind)
projects. These include:
•ACT - 100% renewable energy by 2020
• South Australia - 50% renewable energy by 2025
• Victoria - 25% renewable energy by 2020; and 40%
by 2025
•
Queensland - 50% renewable energy by 2030.
Key measures introduced by the Federal Government
from 2012, such as the creation of the Clean Energy
Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian
Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have encouraged
institutional investment, and catalysed the development
of many large-scale solar PV projects. Although these
bodies have been subject to political debate, both have
been retained for the immediate future. Currently,
the CEFC has been allocated $258 million in funds for
2017-18.
• In September 2016, ARENA announced 12 large-scale
solar projects with 480MW of capacity which were
awarded $92 million in grants. These include three
projects won by French group Neoen located in New
South Wales, two from Canadian Solar, and further
projects located in Queensland, New South Wales and
Western Australia. However, given the advanced stage
of solar's commercial viability today, the availability
of ARENA funding for utility-scale solar projects is
expected to reduce going forward.
• The 2011 ACT reverse-auction scheme pioneered by
Simon Corbell, former ACT Environment and Climate
Change Minister, was instrumental in securing new
solar capacity and falling feed-in tariffs in times
of ongoing RET uncertainty. The Victorian and
Queensland Governments have since followed
suit, implementing their own schemes.
• The first auction of the Victorian Reverse Energy
Auction Scheme (VREAS), supporting up to 650MW of
new renewable generation, opened in November 2017
with proposals due in early 2018.
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