The ACT government has called for proposals for a new community solar scheme within the Territory.
Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell, made the announcement at the Community Energy Congress yesterday.
“This will be a great opportunity for community members who want to invest in large-scale solar to get involved in an on-ground project,” Mr Corbell said.
While not a huge project – 1 megawatt capacity in total – it will further the concept of community-based renewables; a topic of great interest to many Australians wanting to invest in solar power.
Under the initiative, a feed in tariff of up to 20 cents per kilowatt-hour for 20 years will be available.
“We are expecting a lot of interest from residents and small consortiums across the ACT who want to invest in renewable energy but need an extra incentive, such as a feed-in-tariff,” Mr Corbell said.
Proposals under the scheme will be considered on a first-come-first-served basis and will remain open for up to one year; depending on when the cap is reached.
The scheme is part of the ACT government’s ambitious goal of reaching 90 per cent renewable energy by 2020. Further information on the request for proposals can be found at http://www.act.gov.au/solar.
Australia’s first Community Energy Congress has been a sell-out event. According to an ABC report, 50 community energy projects are currently in various stages of development in every state and territory in Australia.
The Hepburn Wind Project is currently the largest community funded renewables project in Australia. The 4.1 MW wind farm is financed over 1900 members, the majority of whom live locally. Collectively, members and applicants invested over $9.6 million dollars in the project. Power from the wind farm is purchased by Red Energy and some of the revenue from electricity sales goes to community projects.
