ACT Minister for Energy, Simon Corbell, announced yesterday there had been a strong response from the solar industry to the Government’s proposed solar farm, with 18 expressions of interest submitted by the end of last week.
Mr Corbell says the interest confirms the potential for Canberra to have a thriving renewable energy sector. Interest so far has come from parties within the ACT, interstate and internationally.
The Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water will now undertake the detailed examination of the expressions of interest throughout the remainder of this month and August; then it will report to Cabinet. It’s expected that a request for more detailed proposals from selected respondents will occur in September.
The solar farm will have a minimum of 30 megawatts of generating capacity, enough to power at least 10,000 homes.
Community consultation sessions held in July showed overwhelming support for the solar farm according to Mr Corbell. “This strong level of interest from the industry further supports ACT Labor’s plans to make Canberra Australia’s Solar Capital.”
The ACT has also become the object of some envy in other states with its very generous solar feed in tariff scheme. Launched in March, the ACT’s program pays a multiplier of 3.88 on the market rate for electricity, which translates to around 50.05c/kWh. Unlike other Australian states with a feed in tariff program, residents of Canberra and the ACT are paid the premium rate on all electricity produced by their home solar power systems, instead of just the surplus their systems export to the mains grid.
Combined with other government solar rebates and a scheme guarantee of 20 years, the program provides home owners considering investing in a solar power system reassurance they will be able to recoup their outlay in a much shorter time than in other states.
The ACT’s model sparked an increased call for a national, uniform gross feed in tariff program in Australia, instead of the current fractured system that sees other states with schemes some say will do little to increase solar power uptake.
