The Federal Government has ended a renewable energy rebate two years early, in all states except Western Australia.

The rebate let people in regional communities claim up to $200,000 for stand-alone power supplies.

An Environment Department official says high demand means money budgeted for the rebate has already been spent.

A solar energy businessman, Adrian Ferraretto, says it is disappointing.

“Right now there is no rebate for the solar energy industry, well we got dealt another blow this morning with the Government pulling the stand-alone power system rebate,” he said.

The rebate for solar installations was withdrawn by the Federal Government recently.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/22/2604850.htm

Marissa Calligeros
June 21, 2009 – 4:42PM

An oversight by the State Government may jeopardise its plans to develop a source of clean, green, solar energy with the potential to power up to 400,000 Queensland homes.

The Bligh Government today flagged its commitment to building state’s first baseload solar thermal power plant by 2020.

However, part of the State Government’s Renewable Energy Plan, released today by Premier Anna Bligh, fails to qualify for funding under the Commonwealth’s $465 Renewables Australia Fund.

The State Government has set aside $6 million to explore the possibilities of solar thermal and geothermal “hot rock” energy, neither of which are supported by the national renewable energy scheme.

Should new Renewable Energy Target legislation pass through Federal Parliament, all electricity providers will be made to source up to 20 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy sources.

Solar thermal and geothermal “hot rock” resources are the two key alternatives capable of providing Queensland with baseload electricity on-demand, World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Policy Manager Kellie Caught said.

“The State Government needs to convince the Federal Government that they need to segment some of those renewable energy targets, perhaps five per cent, specifically for solar thermal and geothermal energy sources,” Ms Caught said.

The Federal Government’s proposed scheme will only support wind, biomass, solar panel and solar hot water energy systems.

“At the moment there won’t be any room for solar thermal or geothermal energy,” Ms Caught said.

Hot fractured rock geothermal energy, discovered about three decades ago in the United States, taps into hot granite rock, nearly five kilometres below the earth’s surface.

Brisbane company Geodynamics has already developed a pilot geothermal plant under the Cooper Basin in north-west South Australia, proving it can recover enough steam from water pumped down wells to rocks heated to 300 degrees to power the town of Innamincka.

The State Government, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation’s Climate Change Initiative, will undertake a $1 million feasibility study for a large scale solar thermal plant.

The Clinton Foundation is an organisation set-up by former US president Bill Clinton to focus on worldwide issues such as climate change.

The state’s five Solar PV (panel) stations collectively produce 0.815 megawatts of power, a proposed solar thermal station at Cloncurry would be capable of producing more than 10 times that amount.

A “super plant” near the North Queensland coast could generate from 500 to 750 megawatts of electricity, the Clinton Foundation’s Tony Wood said.

Mr Wood said the study would look into the scale of the plant, the best location in terms of the sun and transmission lines, how much it will cost and whether it needs to be built over several locations or one.

In its Renewable Energy Plan the Queensland Government does tag an incentives package for private investors, which Ms Caught said is crucial to the development of a large-scale baseload alternative energy source.

She said it would be necessary for the State Government to introduce a feeding tariff to offset the costs of energy production for private investors.

“It’s a good start and an important step, but the State Government will need to look seriously at how they’re going to source private investment without a feeding tariff.”

The government’s plan also includes a number of other initiatives such as passing legislation in Queensland allowing farmers on Crown land to enter agreements with energy companies to put, for example, wind farms on part of their property.

“We believe solar energy and small forms of renewable power are well placed in those very remote parts of Queensland,” Ms Bligh said at the announcement.

“(the feasibility study) will launch Queensland’s bid for Commonwealth funding to see large scale solar power generation in Australia.”

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-set-to-become-solar-powerbase-20090621-csfg.html

Cathy Alexander
June 18, 2009 – 2:04PM

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has confirmed there will be no rebate for solar panels for some months.

Anyone who puts panels on their roof can keep the receipt and apply for a new rebate – if and when the scheme passes the Senate.

That will be no earlier than August.

Senator Wong defended the government’s decision to axe the old solar rebate, announced last week, before the new one was ready.

“It was the fiscally responsible thing to do,” she told reporters in Canberra.

She took aim at the opposition for delaying a vote on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme in the Senate on Thursday. The new solar rebate is part of the RET.

The opposition was blocking action because it was internally divided on climate change, Senator Wong said.

The opposition says the government could have introduced the RET laws much earlier if it was in a hurry, instead of leaving it until the last minute.

But Senator Wong said the plans for the RET had been public for months so Senators did not need more time to think about it.

The government’s climate change agenda is in real trouble, with the two major schemes to tackle the problem bogged down in the Senate.

The other promise – emissions trading – is unlikely to pass the Senate for some time.

Senator Wong said there was “a lot of noise” about both bills but she would press ahead with them.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said it was the government’s fault the RET laws would not be passed soon.

He said they had taken too long to get the laws ready, then changed them at the last minute and expected the Senate to pass them in just a few days.

“This legislation is a year late,” Mr Hunt told AAP.

The vote has been delayed so the Senate can hold an enquiry into the bills; this was only fair, Mr Hunt said.

“It’s outrageous that they want to avoid scrutiny.”

The opposition had asked the government to bring on the bill and the debate and offered to help pass the laws, but the government had not complied.

Mr Hunt said people who went solar would still get the new rebate – they would just have to wait for the laws to be passed.

© 2009 AAP

Source: http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/no-rebate-for-solar-panels-for-now-wong-20090618-cioq.html