Coalition affirms support for fixed 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target at Clean Energy Week

The clean energy industry today welcomed the support for a fixed Renewable Energy Target given by Coalition Senator Simon Birmingham.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said bipartisan support for the Renewable Energy Target was critical, and both major parties had voiced their support for it in separate speeches at Clean Energy Week today.

“Senator Birmingham’s support for the fixed target of 41,000 gigawatt-hours for large-scale renewable energy generation is good news for companies that have hundreds of millions of dollars in investment tied up in clean energy projects,” Mr Green said.

In opening Clean Energy Week, AGL CEO and Managing Director Michael Fraser spoke in his role as Chair of the Clean Energy Council, saying policy uncertainty was currently making life difficult for clean energy investors.

“The current 2020 RET target is going to be particularly challenging to meet in my mind if for no other reason than the uncertainty created for investors by having yet another review of the target legislated for 2014,” Mr Fraser said.

“You simply can’t ask the industry to invest billions of dollars against a backdrop of a piece of legislation that means the goal posts might be moved on you every two years.

“In 2014 we need to be able to settle once and for all what the target is and the shape of the pathway to meet the target. We need to do it, once again, with bipartisan support and then step back and let the industry invest with confidence,” he said.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Yvette D’Ath said changing the Renewable Energy Target would “create uncertainty and discourage investment”.

“This would significantly undermine existing and future large-scale renewable energy investments,” she said.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green also used his address today to release a discussion paper outlining how best to build on the ability of the clean energy industry to generate tens of thousands of jobs. The paper is available at cleanenergycouncil.org.au/resourcecentre/reports