The state government’s long-awaited Climate Action Statement, injecting $40 million of funding into renewable energy development and committing to renewable energy targets, has received a mixed response from within the sector.
The state government’s long-awaited Climate Action Statement, injecting $40 million of funding into renewable energy development and committing to renewable energy targets, has received a mixed response from within the sector.
Key initiatives designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050 include the establishment of a $36.5 million Low Emission Energy Development (LEED) Fund to promote emission-reduction initiatives, and the setting of a 20 per cent renewable energy target for the South West Interconnected System by 2025.
The government will also gather a team of experts to prepare WA for a future national emissions trading scheme.
But some industry players say the government has more to do to encourage the uptake of renewable energy and attract further investment.
WA Sustainable Energy Association chairman Dr Ray Wills said the initiatives were a good starting point, but didn’t go far enough in terms of firm targets.
“There’s no doubt that we are better off in the state because of this. It’s just not at the scale we were expecting,” he said.
Dr Wills said he feared the renewable energy targets were just aspirational, and called on the government to provide meaningful legislative targets to realise the economic and employment opportunities that renewable energy offered the state.
“There is no clarity in this statement of what those commitments are,” he said. “It fails to meet the targets in the Greens’WARET bill [of 20 per cent by 2020], which was even supported by the opposition.”
Dr Wills believes the amount of renewables connected to the grid could easily double within the next 10 years, with the deployment of wind, solar thermal and biomass power a possibility in the short to medium term.
The South West Interconnected System currently has a capacity of 6 per cent for renewables.
The Victorian, New South Wales and South Australian governments have all introduced legislated renewable energy targets, with South Australia currently generating almost 15 per cent of its electricity through renewable energy sources.
Sustainable Energy Development Office figures show that existing renewable energy projects in WA have the capacity to generate 274.9MW of energy, from a combination of wind, hydro and landfill gas sources.
A further 346.5MW could be added if all proposed renewable generation projects come online.
But connecting smaller-scale renewable generators to the grid could be a stumbling block, with boutique generators currently facing large access costs for wire connection.
Australian Sustainable Energy Developments director Matthew Rosser believes the ability to access the grid is a major issue for renewable generators.
He said that, while work was under way to strengthen the networks in the north of the state, capacity in the SWIS lines was nearly full, locking big windfarms such as those in Lancelin, Geraldton and Albany out of the grid.
“At the moment we have good wind farm sites that aren’t linked to the network, especially between Perth and Geraldton,” he said.
Mr Rosser was cynical that the targets in the premier’s statement will deliver real market signals to the industry.
“If they’re serious, they need a mechanism for delivery, they need mandated targets,” he said.
“It’s disappointing for industry, which was looking for mechanisms to support the development of projects.”
