Victorian Parliament votes into law 50% renewables target

A bill proposing to boost Victoria’s legislated renewable energy target (VRET) to 50% by 2030 has won the vote in the Australian state’s parliament on Wednesday, the government announced.

The Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Amendment Bill 2019 will expand the Andrews government’s original Renewable Energy Target (VRET) legislation, which directs the state to source 25% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 and 40% by 2025. As per the VRET 2018-2019 progress report, the state is currently “well on track” to meet the initial 25% goal by 2020.

The Andrews Labor government estimates that the addition of more renewables to the grid will bring around AUD 32 (USD 22.1/EUR 19.8) of annual power savings for local households, while medium businesses and large companies will be able to save AUD 3,100 and AUD 150,000 per year, respectively.

“Victorians voted overwhelmingly in support of increasing our renewable energy target – today we’ve delivered on our promise,” said Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change.

The bolstered target will facilitate the creation of 24,000 jobs by 2030, while driving an additional AUD 5.8 billion in economic activity in Victoria.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.692/EUR 0.620)

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