The Australian Climate Council says $42 billion in private investment and almost 100,000 jobs in renewable energy could be created by implementing a Renewable Energy Storage Target (REST).
Representatives from the Climate Council, Smart Energy Council, Clean Energy Investor Group, Solar Citizens and Advanced Materials Battery Council will gather today in Canberra to lobby the Albanese Government on REST.
“Australia’s Federal and State Energy Ministers are in the process of designing new mechanisms to support the stability and reliability of Australia’s energy system for years to come,” the joint statement said. “The Renewable Energy Storage Target is a strong alternative to any model that supports expensive, unreliable coal and gas – the main drivers of recent energy price increases for homes and business in Australia.”
Plan to Accelerate Renewable Energy Storage
Late last month another coalition led by the Smart Energy Group called for a Renewable Energy Storage Acceleration Scheme and targets set for each state and territory; adding a National Large-scale Renewable Energy Storage Target.
“We need everything from batteries in the wheels of electric vehicles to home battery systems to unlock more investment in large-scale energy storage projects through a Renewable Energy Storage Acceleration Scheme,” said Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes.
The Scheme will involve a series of government tenders for large-scale renewable energy storage projects to address forecast shortfalls in dispatchable generation and storage. A brief note on how the Scheme works is available here.
Raise your hands if you want a Home Battery Subsidy
I think a few hands went up.
Home batteries are an important investment, and those hoping for a Tesla product in particular are likely to be disappointed to recently learn that the price of the Powerwall has gone up again; putting this popular home energy saving solution out of reach. While there are many cheaper Powerwall alternatives, the price of a solar battery system remains expensive regardless.
The Smart Energy Council recognizes the need for batteries for all types of applications, but its Renewable Energy Storage Acceleration Scheme does not address the home market.
Solar Citizens is fighting back, last week calling on the Federal Government to expand the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) – part of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) – to also provide a financial incentive for storage. of the house battery. . How much luck they’ll have there remains to be seen and I’m not aware of any positive murmurs from the Feds about it at this point in time.
There are currently several state/territory based schemes that provide battery subsidies: the ACT (up to $3,500), Victoria (up to $3,500) and the Northern Territory (up to $6,000).
South Australia also had the incentive until July this year after the scheme was scrapped by the Malinauskas Government. After the blackout event in SA on November 12 that lasted several days for some and then more blackouts over the weekend (and into this morning) due to severe weather, no doubt some South Australians cursed that decision again.
