The week leading up to Christmas was a big one in the nation’s capital for renewable energy, with several important announcements from the ACT government.
Last Monday, the ACT Government announced it has invited 10 parties from a list of 23 applicants to develop and provide detailed proposals for the development of a large scale solar farm capable of powering at least 10,000 ACT homes. The ACT Government has indicated support of $30 million to assist in the development of the facility.
Also on Monday, the Government also said it was time to look at options to possibly expand the Territory’s feed in tariff scheme to include larger scale generators in order to further encourage the deployment of clean energy generation.
Stage 1 of the feed-in tariff, one of the most generous in the country, has been an overwhelming success with a 116% increase in the number of grid connect solar power system installations since the Scheme was launched in March 2009.
Under a major new draft policy also released on Monday, the Government says that Canberra could source 25% of its total power from renewable energy production by 2020, and ACT Government operations could be carbon neutral.
“The Draft Sustainable Energy Policy 2010-2020 is an important policy framework for achieving emission reductions, which will play a pivotal role in meeting the Government’s target of carbon neutrality by 2060,” ACT Environment Minister Simon Corbell said.
The final energy policy is due to be released in mid-2010 and Minister Corbell is urging all Canberra residents to have their say. Consultation closes on Friday, 5 March 2010. The draft policy is available to download at http://www.environment.act.gov.au/.
