The Australian state of Victoria announced on Wednesday it will hold an auction for up to 650 MW in a drive to achieve a renewable energy target of 40% by 2025.
Premier Daniel Andrews and energy, environment and climate change minister Lily D’Ambrosio said today that legislation for Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET) will be introduced into the Parliament this week, including for a 25% by 2020 renewables goal in addition to the 2025 objective.
According to a press release, the VRET will reduce the average cost of power for Victorians by about AUD 30 (USD 23.7/EUR 20.1) a year for households, AUD 2,500 a year for medium businesses and AUD 140,000 a year for large companies.
In order to achieve its targets, the government will establish the so-called Victorian Renewable Energy Auction Scheme (VREAS). The state expects its first renewables tender to attract an investment of up to AUD 1.3 billion and create some 1,250 construction jobs over two years plus 90 ongoing jobs. This reverse auction will be opened for bids in mid-October, targeting up to 550 MW of large-scale technology neutral renewable energy and up to 100 MW of large-scale solar power. The winners will be awarded “support agreements” with the state of Victoria, thus ensuring revenue certainty. Under these agreements, successful proponents will be paid through a Hybrid payment mechanism, including a combination of a fixed-price payment and a variable contract-for-difference (CfD) payment.
Also today, the government announced the winners of a tender tied to the construction of two solar parks totalling 138 MW that will power Melbourne’s tram network. Specifically, one award has gone to the 100-MW Bannerton solar project near Robinvale in the Sunraysia district, and the other to the 38-MW Numurkah scheme near Shepparton.
Those projects will bring forward an additional investment of AUD 198 million, while also creating around 325 construction jobs in regional Victoria.
“The renewable energy sector will now have the confidence to invest in renewable energy projects and the jobs that are crucial to Victoria’s future,” said energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio.
(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.789/EUR 0.671)
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Australian wind farm. Author: Steven Caddy. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic
