ANZ-Solar

Learning how to capitalize upon net feed-in tariffs.

Despite the global financial crisis, the Australian solar power industry grew a phenomenal 366% in 2009. Driven by a rebate that enabled "free" solar power systems to be sold, installations of grid connected solar power systems grew even eclipsed past-years' 200% growth. Will Australia be able to repeat these figures in 2010, now that the federal government's rebate has been substituted for a far less generous point-of-sale discount?

In 2009, over 56 MW of grid-connected solar power was installed in Australia. This is 3.66x the 12.2 MW installed in 2008, which itself was 2.13x the 4.3 MW installed in 2007 (Figure 1). Can Australia continue this trajectory and install 208 MW in 2010?
Figure 1: Rebated Australian Grid Connected Solar Power Installations (kW/year). Source: Source: Solar Homes and Communities Program statistics.

Unfortunately, the short answer is ‘no’. It’s quite possible that 2010 may actually see a fall in Australian PV installations. Much of the past years’ growth was driven by an A$8/Watt federal government rebate (capped at $8,000), which when combined with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) meant that zero-cost 1 kW solar power systems were being offered by a number of companies. The value of upfront government support measures has more than halved since the government rebate was replaced by Solar Credits, a point-of-sale discount based upon the market value of a multiplied number of RECs. Put simply, PV is no longer free, so white-hot sales have cooled considerably.

Indeed, the Australian PV industry may face a bumpy ride in 2010. The ability to sell free systems at a reasonable profit attracted a large number of new market entrants towards the end of 2008, which saw installations quickly ramp up in the first half of 2009, before the government’s snap decision to end the rebate stunned the industry. While Solar Credits legislation was being passed, the industry got to work installing the backlog of 63 MW of systems that had been issued pre-approval for the rebate.

The industry’s ability to sell solar power took a further setback when the price of RECs plunged from $50 to $30, meaning the value of Solar Credits (in effect a REC multiplier for the first 1.5kW of installed capacity) dived from $5150 to $3090 for a 1 kW system (from $7750 to $4650 for a 1.5 kW system). At the same time as a geared-up industry started installing 8 MW a month, sales volumes plummeted.

BLOOMBERG - Australia’s household solar panel program cost almost seven times as much as expected with an A$850 million ($745 million) rise in expenses as demand outstripped supply, the Australian Financial Review reported.

The program, which gave rebates for the installation of solar panels, cost A$1 billion over 18 months before being cancelled, the Review said, citing government budget papers.

The government planned to spend A$150 million over five years to help meet renewable energy targets, the report said.

All-Energy Australia 2010 is now open for business - and stand prices start from $3,000!

The question is, can your business afford to be absent? All-Energy Australia ’09 attracted a total attendance of 1,750 influential people from 16 countries and there were 80+ exhibitors from 8 countries filling over 800m2 of space.

(Reuters) - Australia plans to build the world's largest solar power station with an output of 1000 megawatts in a A$1.4 billion (US$1.05 billion) investment, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Sunday.

The plant would have three times the generating capacity of the current biggest solar-powered electricity plant, which is in California, Rudd said during a tour of a power station.

Tender details will be announced later in the year, and successful bidders will be named in the first half of 2010. Rudd said the project was aimed at exploiting the country's ample sunshine, which he called "Australia's biggest natural resource."

It was also aimed at helping the country become a leader in renewable, clean energy, he said.

"The government plans to invest with industry in the biggest solar generation plant in the world, three times the size of the world's current biggest, which is in California," Rudd said.

"Why are we doing this? We are doing it in order to support a clean energy future for Australia, we're doing it to boost economic activity now and we're doing it also to provide jobs and much needed opportunities for business as well."

The project should eventually lead to a network of solar-powered stations across the country, Rudd said, with locations chosen to fit in with the existing electricity grid and ensure good access to sunshine.

"We don't want to be clean energy followers worldwide, we want to be clean energy leaders worldwide." Rudd said.

The A$1.4 billion dedicated to this project was part of a wider A$4.65 clean energy initiative by the government, he said.

Rudd also said Australia would become a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, which will have its first global meeting in June.

HE backlash over the Federal Government's decision to shelve its key policy to fight climate change continued today, with climate scientists, investors and union groups attacking the move.

Professor Andrew Blakers, a director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems at Canberra's Australian National University, said the Rudd government would now have to use other measures to combat climate change.

He called on the Government to urgently introduce a comprehensive and rapid tightening of minimum energy performance standards for all products and buildings.

It should also substantially increase funding for the research and development and manufacturing of low-carbon technology, in particular solar, geothermal (underground heat) and wind for providing power to homes and businesses, he said.

Most scientists say annual global carbon emissions - mainly from using coal, oil and gas - must peak by about 2015 then start to fall away rapidly to give a decent chance of keeping average temperature and sea-level rises manageable for most countries.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, said the delay in the emissions trading scheme, under which large industrial polluters would pay for per-tonne greenhouse gas emissions, came as Australia's best scientists were calling for action "today, not tomorrow".

"Over 95 per cent of the world's most credible scientists are telling us that we are fast approaching the point in which Australia's future, and that of the rest of the world, will be in extreme jeopardy.

"The question that should be posed to the Government and the Opposition is: If not the ETS, then what?

"What firm action is the Government going to take to deal with this problem? Perhaps a good place to start is the fact that we supply the world with 30 per cent of its demand for coal. Shouldn't we rethink that?" Prof Hoegh-Guldberg said.

The Investor Group on Climate Change, which represents investors with over $500 billion in assets under management, today expressed its "frustration and disappointment" at the prospect of further delays to the implementation of a framework for pricing greenhouse gas emissions.

IGCC chairman Frank Pegan said: "The practical consequence of policy delay will be less investment in low emissions technologies and more investment in emissions-intensive assets."

He said the Rudd government's stated commitment to cut Australia's annual emissions by 5 per cent by 2020 was weak but investment in clean technology would have been helped by introducing a carbon pricing framework that could be adjusted later to tougher targets.

He said the longer Australia waited to implement a market mechanism and had an "inadequate 2020 target", the more expensive it would be for Australia's economy and for investors to adjust later when global carbon controls tightened.

A coalition of groups including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Council of Social Service, the WWF and Australian Conservation Foundation said it was deeply disappointed about the shelving of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

"Australian businesses, jobs and investors have had a decade of delay in effective climate policy. Meanwhile, clean energy industries and jobs have been lost to competitors in China, South Korea and Europe, where ambitious clean energy policies are being implemented," the Southern Cross Climate Coalition said.

"Since October last year more than 150 new measures have been announced globally to reduce climate pollution and 32 countries now have emissions trading schemes. Around US$200 billion is expected to be invested in clean energy solutions in 2010.

"All political parties and many business leaders are responsible for jeopardising efforts to make the transition to a clean energy economy and growing Australian clean-energy jobs, investment and industries."