$400m boost for regional renewable energy

$400 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is available for renewable energy projects that cut diesel use by remote communities and mining companies.

Launched today, the Regional Australia’s Renewables (RAR) program will provide funding to support the roll out of renewable energy such as solar, small wind power and hybrid technologies in remote areas or on the fringe of the electricity grid.

Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray said the program is expected to generate 150 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources in regional and remote locations within five years. At least two large-scale renewable energy plants of 10 MW or greater are expected to be built as part of the program.

Gray said that in the Pilbara - where the cost of wind energy can be half that of diesel - energy demand is growing faster than in any other part of Australia.

“It’s no secret that in Western Australia we have a lot of remote areas and meeting our growing energy demand is a big issue,” Gray said. “Where there is no grid-connected electricity, many communities and industries truck-in fuels to generate energy.”

The Industry RAR program works directly with electricity distributors to demonstrate technologies that can feed more renewable energy into community electricity grids, such as innovative energy storage systems.

ARENA may also support exceptional, high-merit, stand-alone projects greater than $20 million. ARENA says this funding is only for projects “that will be real game-changers for renewable energy in Australia.”

Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh said the program was a welcome boost for the renewable energy industry, and demonstrated the enormous potential for renewable energy to make a positive impact in regional and remote communities.

“We’ve known for quite some time that renewable energy is a viable alternative to diesel-fuelled power generation, but up until now the industry hasn’t had the necessary backing to give it the jump-start it needs to get rolling,” Marsh said.

“The cost of technologies such as off-grid solar is actually below that of diesel in many countries. The problem is that the up-front investment for solar is higher, but after that the fuel is free. In comparison, companies will continue paying dearly to operate diesel generators for many years.

“The opportunities for large industrial users like mining companies to significantly cut their operating expenses by switching to off-grid renewable energy are huge, and we welcome this move by ARENA to assist projects in this area,” Marsh said.