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Posts Tagged ‘solar power’

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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Why might your power bills more than double by 2020?

Monday, October 11th, 2010

The Institute of Public Affairs last week issued some research, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, that revealed that retail electricity prices increased by 51 to 61 per cent in the most populous states of Australia between 2005 and 2010. These increases were up to four times the 16 per cent inflation rate over the last five years.

We believe that this trend of spiraling electricity prices will continue over the coming decade, with electricity rates to at least double and perhaps triple over the next 10 years. This would mean the average household can expect to pay an extra $1500 per year for electricity by 2020, equivalent to about an extra $30 per week taken from the household budget.

Such a large increase in retail electricity prices is expected due to the following five factors:

  1. Australia’s population is forecast to continue to grow, which means more investment is needed in the electricity network (transmission, distribution) to provide power to more people. This has to be paid for by the end user – households and businesses.
  2. Whilst many electrical appliances are twice as efficient as they were 10 years ago, Australians are using more power at home due to:
    • massive growth in purchases of large, power guzzling, flat screen TVs, often with two or three TVs in the same house
    • rapid growth in number of people installing air-conditioners and dishwashers in their homes (only about one third of homes currently have these)
    • increased multi-tasking especially among younger generation e.g. watching TV and surfing the Internet whilst listening to music
  3. Australia currently produces the majority of its power from cheap coal but the price of coal is likely to increase as fast growing countries like China and India demand more and more coal to fuel their rapidly growing energy needs. Local power generators are likely to have to pay prices for coal at higher international levels.
  4. State governments have in the past often kept consumer electricity prices artificially low but this trend has now come to an abrupt end as evidenced by the 15 to 20 per cent price rises in New South Wales and Queensland in July this year.
  5. The Federal Government’s mandatory renewable energy target dictates that by 2020 Australia must produce 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources such as wind or solar. This will mean much higher costs to produce and distribute power to households and businesses because:
    • renewable energy power plants cost more to build and run as they are relatively new technologies
    • the networks that carry electricity from these new power plants to homes will need to be upgraded and extended at significant cost
    • wind power can be unreliable and would likely require back up power plants to ensure reliable supply

What can you do to reduce the heat?

There are two ways to keep your power bills under control:

  1. Reduce what you use at home – we recommend reading our electricity savings tips as well as requesting an energy audit to better understand where you might be wasting power at home.
  2. Reduce what you have to pay for this usage - regularly compare energy suppliers to ensure you are getting the best possible deal.
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