Australian Clean Energy - Falling Off the Investment Cliff

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Australian Clean Energy - Falling Off the Investment Cliff

I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains... Dorothea MacKellar's 1906 musings remain true for many Australians, but will we take advantage of the unique resources of this wide, brown land to lead us into a clean energy future?

As the Climate Institute of Australia points out, Australia is blessed with huge renewable resources including wind, sun, wave and biomass. But the Australian clean energy industry has been effectively killed off: ironically because the industry has so successfully responded to a good Government policy — the MRET scheme (Mandatory Renewable Energy Target).

In 2005 there was a 229% growth in commissioned clean energy projects compared of 2004. The 2010 MRET target for renewables has been met. The consequence is that there is no incentive for continued growth and investment. Under current policy, the renewables industry is firing not hiring, going offshore and abandoning future investments.

The stalling of MRET has resulted in the loss of AU$13 billion of further investment in wind energy for Australia. Renewable energy company Roaring Forties, part of Hydro Tasmania, recently announced that AU$750 million of wind investments would be stalled due to the Australian Government’s failure to increase its renewable energy target beyond the current level. This investment cliff did not come as a surprise but was foreseen some years ago.

Renewable energy in Australia has been penalized by its own success, and could have doubled in size for less than $15 per household per year. The proportion of energy that Australia generates from renewables is in decline, in contrast to global trends.

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