5 reasons why Australia’s Renewable Energy Target should be kept

Australia has a target to source 20 per cent of our electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020. The Renewable Energy Target (RET) was developed to drive the deployment of at least 41,000 GWh of renewable electricity by 2020 to meet the 20 per cent target.

The RET review was conducted by a group of 4 business executives appointed by the government. From the start, the background of the committee (coal generation, conventional energy economics and climate sceptic opinions) suggested the recommendations would not be good for the renewable energy industry. On 28^th August, the report was published and recommended the RET either be cut back to 27TWHr or scrapped completely. This will have a devastating impact on our industry.

Read the 5 most important reasons why the RET should be kept

1. Major policy driver of renewable energy deployment

The Renewable Energy Target (RET) was developed to drive the deployment of at least 41,000 GWh of renewable electricity by 2020 to meet 20 per cent demand. Australia is actually on track to achieve a 26 per cent share.

2. Reduces wholesale electricity prices

Clean energy companies are creating more competition for coal-fired power stations and since 2001 the RET has lowered the wholesale energy prices as much as $10/MWh.

3. Generates investment

The RET has generated $18 billion of investment, and if left alone to do its job under stable policy settings, is projected to generate a further $18.7 billion to 2030.

4. Provides accessible renewable energy for all

Removing the RET would kill the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and increase the cost of solar PV to consumers by 20-30% and will eliminate the mechanism to support growth in the large scale > 100kW market.

5. Creates employment and supports business growth

The Renewable Energy Target helped create 25,000 jobs, 18,000 in the solar industry. If the RET goes, almost 7,000 jobs in solar will be lost or foregone by 2018 and the existence of 4,500 businesses would be in jeopardy.