The ACT government is offering a $30 million subsidy to build a solar farm in Canberra with enough capacity to generate at least 22 megawatts of clean electricity – enough to power ten thousand homes..
According to a report on the ABC, several potential sites for the solar farm have been identified and those locations will be announced early next month when the tender process begins.
The solar power industry is looking particularly healthy in the ACT, largely due to the recent implementation of the nation’s most generous feed in tariff scheme whereby owners of grid connect solar power systems are paid a premium of 3.88 times the market rate (currently 50.5 cents) for the all the solar power they generate for 20 years. Most other states that have implemented feed in tariffs have based their programs on payments only being eligible on surplus electricity generated.
The current Canberra feed in tariff pays the premium rate for systems up to 10 kW and 80% of the premium rate for systems between 10 kW and 30 kW. The ACT government is also examining a feed in tariff for larger systems to encourage the development of more solar farms in the region.
While not all home owners in Canberra will be able to afford solar power systems, the ACT government has implemented other strategies to ensure residents are aware of cheaper and greener renewable energy options for their homes. From the beginning of April, electricity suppliers in the ACT must first offer their GreenPower renewable energy options to all new or re-connecting electricity customers before any other product.
