The Australian Greens have welcomed a decision by the Federal Government to make changes to the renewable energy target scheme, but say questions remain about how it will operate into the future.
The Federal Government has announced changes that it said would enable the scheme to exceed a 20 per cent target by 2020.
Market demand for the scheme from new large-scale projects, such as wind farms and solar energy plants, has stalled partly because the Government used it to reward households installing rooftop solar panels with an $8000 rebate.
The Government intends from January 2011 to split the scheme into two parts – one for large-scale projects and a second for small-scale technologies, such as solar panels and solar hot water systems.
Greens Senator Christine Milne said the changes meant thousands of Australians employed in building and running renewable energy power stations could breathe a sigh of relief that their jobs were secure.
But with the details still to be clarified, important questions remained about how the scheme would now operate.
“Whilst the fixed price removes some uncertainty for solar investors, we need to know what long-term certainty the Government will offer the industry, given that the solar multiplier will phase out over the coming few years,” she said.
The Greens are calling for a gross national feed-in for all forms of renewable energy and a parallel energy efficiency scheme.
The Federal Government has announced changes that it said would enable the scheme to exceed a 20 per cent target by 2020.
Market demand for the scheme from new large-scale projects, such as wind farms and solar energy plants, has stalled partly because the Government used it to reward households installing rooftop solar panels with an $8000 rebate.
The Government intends from January 2011 to split the scheme into two parts – one for large-scale projects and a second for small-scale technologies, such as solar panels and solar hot water systems.
Greens Senator Christine Milne said the changes meant thousands of Australians employed in building and running renewable energy power stations could breathe a sigh of relief that their jobs were secure.
But with the details still to be clarified, important questions remained about how the scheme would now operate.
“Whilst the fixed price removes some uncertainty for solar investors, we need to know what long-term certainty the Government will offer the industry, given that the solar multiplier will phase out over the coming few years,” she said.
The Greens are calling for a gross national feed-in for all forms of renewable energy and a parallel energy efficiency scheme.
