Consultation on Additional Renewable Energy Target Issues
As part of negotiations on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the Commonwealth Government agreed that the current COAG process to review specific RET issues will also consider whether new waste coal mine gas projects should be eligible under the RET; and whether annual targets under the RET should be increased to offset additional Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) not backed by generation as part of the ‘Solar Credits’ mechanism.
The Department of Climate Change has released two further issues papers for public consultation:
Discussion Paper 4 (230 KB) (RTF 262 KB) Treatment of new waste coal mine gas power generation in the RET
Discussion Paper 5 (256 KB) (RTF 342 KB) The Treatment of ‘Solar Credits’ Renewable Energy Certificates under the RET
COAG will consider the issues of new waste coal mine gas and Solar Credits together with its previously announced review of specific RET issues.
Making a submission
All submissions to Discussion Papers 4 and 5 are due Close of Business 28 January 2010.
Submissions should utilise the Submission Templates provided below to address the questions raised in the discussion papers. Additional comments are also welcomed.
Submission template: Discussion Paper 4 (103 KB) Treatment of new waste coal mine gas power generation in the RET
Submission template: Discussion Paper 5 (99 KB) The Treatment of ‘Solar Credits’ Renewable Energy Certificates under the RET
Where possible submissions should be lodged electronically to the email address below, preferably in Microsoft Word or other text based formats. Alternatively, submissions may be sent to the postal address below to arrive by the due date.
Email: RET@climatechange.gov.au
Renewable Energy Team
Department of Climate Change
GPO Box 854
CANBERRA ACT 2601
COAG Review of Specific Renewable Energy Target Issues
As part of the process of designing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to examine further some of the eligibility provisions of the RET for new small‑scale technologies as well as heat pumps and rules for off-grid resource projects to ensure that the eligibility rules remain relevant over time to reflect new technologies and recent developments in renewable technology and resource project development structures.
Following discussions on the RET legislation, the COAG review is also to consider whether it would be feasible to introduce a measure to provide support to off-grid renewable generation within the RET.
To inform the Review, the COAG Renewable Energy Sub Group released three short discussion papers seeking stakeholder input on the issues being considered:
Discussion Paper 1 – Eligibility of new small-scale technologies and heat pumps (215 KB)
Discussion Paper 2 – Self-generation provisions under the expanded national RET scheme (254 KB)
Discussion Paper 3 – Support for small-scale off-grid renewable generation (271 KB)
On 5 November 2009, the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator the Hon Penny Wong announced that the COAG Review will also consider factors that may be impacting upon the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) market in the short and long term.