The NSW Liberal-National Coalition government has urged its federal counterpart to “end the climate wars” and talk emissions reduction policy ahead of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting this week.
The NSW government is calling for the federal government to integrate climate and energy policy to provide industry certainty and reduce carbon emissions.
In an article in the AFR, NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin states that his government recognises climate change as “scientific fact”. He considers that all governments have a responsibility to address carbon emissions.
Harwin also says it is appropriate to strive for policy consistency to signal investment certainty to the market.
Uncertainty will increase prices: Harwin
While the federal government may have abandoned the National Energy Guarantee, Harwin writes, it’s important to confront the fact that the industry needs certainty.
This is because continued uncertainty will delay investment decisions. Harwin says this in turn will lead to increased wholesale prices.
Harwin will meet with federal, state and territory energy ministers at the COAG meeting in Adelaide. Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor hopes to achieve agreement among all governments on grid reliability and new generation investment.
Harwin, however, says this approach also needs to be matched with efforts to tackle climate change with a coherent emissions reduction policy.
NSW energy policy sets net-zero emissions target
In 2016, the NSW government set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Harwin describes this as a possible “circuit breaker” on stalled national energy policy.
The government’s focus is also to address price, reliability and emissions – often referred to as the ‘trilemma’ of energy. Harwin says the government has based its policy decisions on the triple elements of science, engineering and economics.
So far, the state has about 90 large-scale wind and solar power projects in the system.
Other features of the NSW energy and emissions reduction policy include:
- Large-scale renewable energy target of 23 per cent of generation by 2020.
- Small-scale renewable energy scheme offering incentives to install rooftop solar panels.
- Energy Switch tool, where customers can upload a recent bill and get feedback on comparative deals. Households with solar installations can also benefit from the program, as it can compare solar compatibility features.
The state also has seven major large-scale operating solar energy farms, which are situated at Parkes, Dubbo, Griffith, Gullen, Nyngan, Moree and Broken Hill.
