Queensland Renewable Energy Plan (QREP) 2012 has been launched by Energy Minister Stephen Robertson – and the future of solar in the state continues to look bright.
“QREP 2012 places Queensland front and centre of Australia’s clean energy future. It positions Queensland to leverage up to $8.9 billion in renewable energy investment and deliver 9000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy generation by 2020,” said Minister Robertson.
The Minister sees the state benefiting from the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future initiative.
“Substantial opportunities will emerge for Queensland from this national plan. With a strong ongoing program of initiatives and new focus on collaboration and capacity building, QREP 2012 aims to position Queensland as a primary beneficiary.”
Minister Robertson highlighted the fact Queensland had already smashed its solar power target 3 years early and said Queensland’s renewable energy generation capacity had grown 66 per cent since 2008; from 745 megawatts to over 1235 megawatts currently – enough to power around 640,000 homes.
While some states appear to have grossly underestimated the contribution home solar power systems can make towards Australia’s clean energy future, Queensland has embraced small scale solar – and that is set to continue.
Mr Robertson said the Plan would build upon Queensland’s success with small-scale solar with initiatives such as the state’s solar feed in tariff and solar hot water rebate scheme.
Queensland’s plentiful solar resources combined with the state’s generous feed in tariff programs means households installing solar panels in Brisbane can save an estimated $832 a year with an entry-level system according to data from Energy Matters – and more with a larger system.
Under QREP 2012, the Queensland government will also seek to accelerate deployment of medium and large scale renewable energy generation projects
“We are already co-funding the world’s largest solar integration project at the Kogan Creek power station and have been chosen by the Commonwealth to host the proposed 250 megawatt Solar Dawn solar thermal power project at Chinchilla,” said Mr. Robertson.
A copy of the new Queensland Renewable Energy Plan 2012 can be downloaded here.
