Energy Minister Peter Collier announced on Monday the official start of Western Australia’s residential net feed-in tariff.
“Eligible householders will receive a subsidy of 40 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) on electricity exported into both the South West Interconnected System and region grids,” Mr Collier said.
The feed in tariff is in addition to the price paid under the existing Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme, which will allow householders to receive a minimum of 47c/kWh.
The scheme, which will run for 10 years, is available for new and existing solar power systems, wind and micro-hydro systems that are owned by the resident, including those at rental properties that have tenants.
Also announced Monday was the launch of construction on Collgar Wind Farm. The facility will be made up of 111 wind turbines situated on 13,000 hectares and will generate enough electricity to power more than 125,000 homes every year. The Collgar Wind Farm will avoid more than one million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually – equivalent to taking more than 250,000 cars off the road.
Up to 200 jobs will be created during the building phase, with ongoing jobs for up to 20 people once construction is completed. The wind farm should be operational by August 2011.
