Renewable Energy Target
Through its Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme, the Government has pledged that by 2020, 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity supply will come from renewable sources. In ten years time the amount of electricity coming from sources like solar, wind and geothermal will be around the same as all of Australia’s current household electricity use.
The RET expands on the existing Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET), which began in 2001.
How does the RET Scheme work?
The expanded national RET Scheme has been designed in cooperation with state and territory governments through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The national Renewable Energy Target scheme will:
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increase the existing Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) by more than four times to 45,000 gigawatt-hours in 2020;
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provide an incentive to accelerate uptake of Australia’s abundant renewable energy sources, which include solar, wind and geothermal energy; and
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reduce red tape by bringing existing state-based targets into a single, national scheme.
The Australian Government is also introducing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) to provide incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting a carbon price. The CPRS is the economically responsible way to tackle climate change because it will move us from the high emissions economy of the past to the low emissions economy of the future.
The CPRS will help bring renewable technologies into the market over time. As a transitional measure, the national RET scheme will accelerate deployment of renewable energy technologies by providing a guaranteed market for renewable energy. The RET will conclude in 2030, at which time the CPRS is expected to be the primary driver of renewable energy.