Improvements Needed to Ensure Draft RET Legislation Meets 20% Target

Pacific Hydro has welcomed the Federal Government's release of the exposure draft legislation for the 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target (RET), but says that new aspects of the legislation raise some questions about the scheme's ability to deliver 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

"We are pleased to see the exposure draft legislation for the RET finally released for comment", said Pacific Hydro CEO, Mr Rob Grant.

"There are some new aspects to the policy that require further analysis and we look forward to discussing the scheme's design in more detail with the Federal Government in the coming weeks."

The exposure draft invites comments on the scheme's design including a number of new aspects, one of which provides up to five Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for each megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity produced from solar power. Previous similar schemes have provided for one REC per MWh for all projects.

"We expect that this may lead to the 20 per cent RET not being met", said Mr Grant.

"We want to work with the Federal Government to ensure the RET legislation provides the certainty that the industry is seeking to make the significant investments, deliver tens of thousands of jobs and at the same time ensure that the 20 per cent renewable energy target will be met", added Mr Grant.

"Pacific Hydro intends to analyse the detail of the draft legislation so we can provide constructive feedback to the Commonwealth to assist with the scheme's design and ensure it delivers real abatement of carbon pollution immediately to complement the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme."

The RET was identified in the White Paper as one of the four key strategies to reduce Australia's carbon pollution. With stationary energy, which is mainly electricity generation, making up more than 50 per cent of our carbon pollution, the RET has an essential role to play in abating emissions from this sector.

"If we are to reduce our carbon pollution today, complementary measures such as the RET must be central to our response", said Mr Grant. "Pacific Hydro has $2 billion of projects that we are ready to move forward with and details of the RET legislation that provide certainty are critical in making investment decisions."