PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Industry lobby calls for extension of PV program

Following the Australian elections a renewable industry lobby calls for government to increase PV support

In November’s Australian general election, Prime Minister John Howard’s center-right coalition was elected to a third term in office. The Sustainable Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has now renewed calls for the government to commit to a target of providing 50 percent of the country’s energy needs using sustainable energy; to extend funding for a PV rebate program; to provide major funding for a renewable energy program that supports industry innovation; and to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Peter Szental, SEIA’s policy chair, says that unless the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) passed by the Australian Parliament in Dec. 2000 (see PI 1/2001, p. 21) is revised and extended beyond 2010, the gains are in danger of dwindling afterwards. The MRET obliges wholesale purchasers of electricity to contribute towards 2 percent - 9,500 GWh - of renewable energy generation by 2010. Szental says the target should be lifted to 5 percent by 2005 and 10 percent by 2010, rising by 1 percent each year until it reaches 50 percent in 2050. »Much of the hard work and investment in building industry capacity in Australia will be lost if we do not increase the targets,« he says.

SEIA also wants funding for the PV Rebate Program (PVRP), which is scheduled to run out at the end of 2002, to be extended through 2006. The $31 million AUD ($16.2 million USD) program, administered by the government’s Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO), currently offers $5 AUD ($2.60 USD) per watt for new PV systems, capped at $7,500 AUD ($3,920 USD). In July, Peter Lawley, business development manager at the Australian PV firm Pacific Solar Pty Ltd., called for the level to be raised to $9 AUD ($4.70 USD) per watt (see PI 8/2001, p. 28). Szental, who says SEIA is finalizing a position paper, only comments that SEIA wants to ensure that »financial incentives will achieve long-term market transformations.«

Another SEIA goal is for the government to put $20 million AUD ($10.4 million USD) per year into a Sustainable Energy Technology Innovation and Commercialization Program (SETICP) that would promote Australian leadership in research and improvements in the renewable energy industry. He says that amount would be in line with funding provided by the former Energy Research and Development Corporation (ERDC), an agency that was abolished by the government in 1997. SEIA would also like to see an industry development grant with an annual funding of $1.5 million AUD ($785,000 USD) for working on accreditation and standards.

On Nov. 23, Howard appointed his former Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, David Kemp, as the new head of the Environment Ministry. Despite Kemp’s lack of experience with environmental affairs, Szental says he does not expect a major shift in policy by the government. The appointment of a senior cabinet minister »signifies that the [the renewable energy] portfolio continues to be considered important for the government.« Szental adds that SEIA is also advising the opposition Greens and Democrats.