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Archive for the ‘solar power’ Category

IPART recommends 8 to 10 cents per kWh for NSW solar feed-in tariff

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Following the closure of the Solar Bonus Scheme to new participants on 1 July this year, the NSW Government requested the NSW energy regulator Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to recommend a ‘fair and reasonable’ value for a feed-in tariff for customers who are not in the Solar Bonus Scheme. However, the terms of reference required IPART to ensure that its recommendations did not result in an increase in NSW electricity prices nor require funding from the NSW Government budget. In other words, any future feed-in tariff for these customers must be subsidy-free.

Today IPART released its draft report on the tariffs it thinks should be paid by electricity retailers to their customers for surplus electricity that is generated by customers’ solar photo-voltaic (PV) units and exported into to the grid. The draft report, entitled “Solar feed-in tariffs – Setting a fair and reasonable value for electricity generated by small-scale solar PV units in NSW”, recommends that NSW customers be paid between eight and ten cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for solar power exported back to the electricity grid. IPART has used as the basis for their recommendation the direct financial gain electricity retailers are estimated to make when solar PV customers export electricity to the grid. IPART expects their recommended price to increase when the carbon tax takes effect on 1 July 2013 but at this time cannot say by how much.

According to the draft report many stakeholders suggested that the feed-in tariff be set equal to the retail price charged to customers by power companies for the electricity they consume (currently 20 to 30 c/kWh). Whilst this appears a sensible suggestion on the surface it does not take into account the fact that around half of the retail electricity price includes fixed network costs and there are additional costs to retailers in meeting green energy requirements such as the Renewable Energy Target (RET).

If you feel up to reading IPART’s Draft Report you can find a copy here. If you wish to air your views on this matter IPART is holding a Public Forum on 12 December and is accepting submissions on its draft report until 23 January 2012.

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Victorian solar feed-in tariffs to be cut?

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Apparently the Clean Energy Council (CEC) and the Victorian Government Department of Primary Industries (DPI) met this week to discuss the existing Victorian Premium Solar Feed-in Tariff regime. It has been reported that the DPI mentioned that the current feed-in tariff regime would be phased out in the near future for new customers wishing to connect to the electricity grid.

The current premium feed-in tariff offers Victorian residents with small-scale (up to 5 kW in size) solar photo-voltaic (PV) systems a minimum credit of at least 60 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for any excess electricity they feed back into the grid. All electricity retailers with more than 5,000 Victorian customers must offer the premium feed-in tariff for solar. When the premium feed-in tariff regime was established it was limited to a total capacity of 100 megawatts of solar power across the state and once this limit is reached, new customers connecting solar to the grid may no longer be eligible to be paid  the premium rate for feeding in to the grid. However, those Victorians who are already receiving the premium feed-in tariff will be entitled to continue to receive the premium rate until 2024 even if the scheme is closed to new customers.

Apparently the 100 megawatt limit is expected to be reached soon (if not already) and the DPI is expected to announce a replacement interim scheme for new customers connecting to the grid. Whilst any new scheme is likely to be similar it is expected that the premium rate will be cut significantly as has occurred in other states. For example, the NSW Government slashed its feed-in tariff from 60 cents to 20 cents per kWh effective from 29 April 2011.

If you wish to learn more about solar feed-in tariffs in Victoria please refer to the FAQs on the Department of Primary Industries’ website.

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NSW Govt slashes solar feed-in tariff by two-thirds

Friday, November 5th, 2010

The NSW Government last week completed its statutory review of the Solar Bonus Scheme, under which customers were paid 60 cents for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity they fed back into the electricity grid from their home installed solar photo-voltaic cells. Customers installing new solar PV systems after 27 October will only be entitled to receive 20 cents per kWh instead of the previous 60 cents – a massive reduction of 67 per cent.

Customers who have already connected PV systems by 27 October will not be affected by the tariff change and will be entitled to keep receiving the higher 60 cents tariff. However, the NSW Government has introduced a cap on the Solar Bonus Scheme – a total capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) – after which new customers installing solar PV systems will no longer be entitled to receive any bonus payments for feeding solar generated power back into the grid.

The Government is putting a positive spin on taking the knife to the Scheme, saying that the change “reflects the substantial fall in PV system purchase costs over the past twelve months and also takes account of the generous support provided through the Commonwealth’s Renewable Energy Target scheme”. However, it appears that the Government was concerned about the costs of operating the Scheme, which ultimately get passed back to all consumers in the form of higher electricity prices.

The NSW Department of Industry and Investment has put together some FAQs on the changes, which you can read here.

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