6000MW of large scale renewable energy capacity needs to be in place by 2020. Can we build it? Yes, we can – but legislation for the bipartisan Renewable Energy Target (RET) agreement must be passed quickly.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said legislation for the deal was introduced to the House of Representatives yesterday.
“It is essential that the new legislation is passed quickly, without perverse political outcomes caused by a messy negotiation with cross-bench senators in search of an agreement on native wood waste.”
Wood waste is one of the last thorny issues to be dealt with. The current proposal is to include native forest wood waste in the RET, which the CEC opposes unless the waste has been verified as coming from sustainably managed forests. Others don’t want it included at all.
Also released yesterday was a new report from the CEC outlining the incredible opportunities now within Australia’s grasp; assuming the revised RET passes muster.
While it will see a significant reduction in the large-scale target – from 41,000 GWh to 33,000 GWh – the revised target will still attract many billions in investment and create thousands of jobs.
The CEC says the RET will generate more than $10 billion worth of investment and more than 6500 new jobs associated with the large scale portion of the target; the LRET. Combined with the small scale component, the SRES , the total benefit expected is $40.4 billion worth of investment and 15,200 jobs.
To reach the 33,000 GWh target, it will require approximately 6000 MW of new utility-scale renewable energy capacity to be built by 2020. Some have questioned whether this is possible, but there are already projects with planning approval equating to approximately 6600 MW.
For example; just one project makes up 10% of that total – the 600MW Ceres Project, originally announced in 2011. Consisting of nearly 200 wind turbines, it will generate enough power to supply 225,000 homes – more than 2,000 GWh of annual power production and representing 14 per cent of South Australia’s electricity demand.
But the clock is ticking.
