ACT Government considers expansion of solar feed-in tariff scheme

The ACT Government is close to finalising its position on the possible expansion of the ACT’s nation-leading feed-in tariff to include medium- and large-scale generation capacity. The announcement follows a recent decision by the Victorian Government to establish a feed-in tariff scheme to support large-scale solar generation.

The ACT gross feed-in tariff began operation in March 2009; and currently, the ACT Government pays 45.7 c/kWh, to generators up to 30 kWh in size, who generate and feed their solar-generated energy back into the grid.

The ACT is the only jurisdiction to have legislated ‘gross scheme’, which pays generators for all the solar energy they produce, not just what they don’t use in their home.

“The ACT Government is currently considering options to extend the feed-in tariff scheme to include medium- and large-scale renewable generation capacity,” said the Minister for Energy, Simon Corbell. “The government released a discussion paper in December 2009 and engaged in detailed community consultation until late February 2010.

“During this period, two public meetings were held with close to 100 people present in total at the two meetings. The government also wrote to key stakeholders to specifically seek their views. The government received 44 formal submissions by the closing date of the consultation period earlier this year.

“The ACT Government is very committed to exploring solar as a major energy source for the Territory, and is looking at several ways to further cement the ACT's position as the solar capital of Australia,” Corbell added. “So far, the ACT scheme has seen almost 300% growth in solar-panel installations on Canberra roofs, which far exceeds initial projections.”