RET legislation passed

The Senate has passed the federal government's renewable energy target legislation.

“The Renewable Energy Target will ensure that 20% of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020,” Minister for Climate Change and Water Senator Penny Wong said.

“In ten years' time the amount of electricity coming from sources like solar, wind and geothermal will be around the same as all of Australia’s current household electricity use.”

The government and the opposition negotiated amendments to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme on Wednesday night in order to pass it through parliament.

On the issue of aluminium, the government and the opposition have reached an agreement that will potentially benefit all emissions-intensive trade-exposed firms. Rather than singling out a particular industry, the government has secured an agreement that would support all industries if costs increased beyond a certain point.

As the peak national body representing Australia’s electricity distribution and transmission networks, the Energy Network Association (ENA) welcomes the recent passage of the Government’s Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill 2009 and the Renewable Energy (Electricity) (Charge) Amendment Bill 2009.

CEO of ENA Andrew Blyth said the electricity industry is poised to make the transformation from a centralised, producer-controlled network to one that is less centralised and more consumer-interactive.

“Australia’s adoption of a renewable energy target reinforces the need for the further development and implementation of smart networks. The move to a smarter network promises to change the industry’s business model and its relationship with all stakeholders, involving and affecting utilities, regulators, energy service providers, technology and automation vendors and all consumers of electric power.

“Energy network businesses will play a key facilitating role in providing the homes and businesses of Australia with cleaner, greener energy as well as the ability to maximise efficient energy use. Delivering these outcomes involves a merging of the existing electricity network infrastructure - upgraded with sensing, monitoring and management devices - with a secure, robust and reliable communications infrastructure, supported by relevant information technologies, resulting in two-way exchanges of energy and information.

“However, implementing these significant changes to existing infrastructure and business operations presents a number of key challenges for energy network businesses. The current regulatory framework needs to ensure appropriate commercial returns for network investment and to encourage further research and development into smart network technology. Energy storage, telecommunications security, technology standards, and workforce training and education are also key challenges for ENA members in moving towards smart networks,” said Blyth.