The Act is implemented through the Renewable Energy (Electricity)
Regulation 2001, which specifies the regulatory regime for governing the
MRET, especially the administration of registration and accreditation of
the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and the issuance of exemption
certificates to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries. The
Regulation has been revised several times since its inception, to
reflect amendments made to the underlying Renewable Energy (Electricity)
Act (as noted above).
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act was enacted in 2011,
with a purpose to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy
technologies, and to increase the supply of renewable energy in
Australia – through the provision of financial assistance for research
and the commercialisation of renewable technologies. The Act establishes
the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for this purpose (ARENA,
2018a). The funding allocation for ARENA was initially at A$3.2 billion
over the period 2013-2020, and was later reduced to A$2 billion, as a
result of the introduction of the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax
Repeal) Bill 2013, and the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 (ARENA,
2018b). In 2014, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Repeal) Bill
was tabled in the Parliament, with the intention of repealing the
Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011, which would have the effect
of abolishing the ARENA (Parliament of Australia, 2014a). This Bill was
however rejected in the Parliament, due to strong public opposition –
129 out of 132 public submissions opposed the Bill (ARENA, 2014).
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012 was enacted in
2012, with the objective of financing clean energy projects (such as,
renewable energy, and energy efficiency) that could help lower
Australia’s GHG emissions. The funding allocation is at A$2 billion
each year, for five years from 1 July 2013. The Clean Energy Finance
Corporation is established by the Act to manage this funding. In 2013, a
Bill was proposed in the Parliament, to abolish the Clean Energy Finance
Corporation Act (Parliament of Australia, 2013). This Bill was however
blocked in the Senate, and after a long period of discussion, abandoned
in 2016.
Australian state governments have also introduced a range of
legislations for regulating renewable energy within their jurisdictions.
For example:
In New South Wales (NSW), the state government introduced theRenewable Energy Action Plan in 2013, with the aim to guide the
development of renewable energy industry, and to support the national
target of 20% renewable generation by 2020. Specific objectives
outlined in the Plan are: attracting renewable investment and projects,
building community support for renewable energy, and growing expertise
in renewable technology (NSW Department of Planning & Environment,
2016). Besides, a scheme was legislated in 2009, as the Section
15A of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW) , to provide fixed
feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) for household solar PV installations. The scheme
is known as the Solar Bonus Scheme. This scheme initially set the FiTs
at 60 c/kWh. However, the government announced major changes to the
scheme in 2010, including a reduced FiTs of 20c/kWh for new
participants. The scheme was ended in 2016 (NSW Department of Industry,
2016). Since then, solar FiTs began to be provided in NSW under the
arrangements known as Voluntary Retailer Contribution, which allows each
retailer to set their own FiTs. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory
Tribunal (IPART) is required by the Section 43ECA of the
Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW) to determine a voluntary FiT
benchmark for electricity retailers (IPART, 2016).
The Victorian government enacted the Renewable Energy (Jobs and
Investment) Act in 2017, as part of a package of policy reforms
designed to deliver investment and jobs in the state. The Act is
targeted to ensure 25 per cent of the state’s electricity generation
from renewable sources by 2020, and 40 per cent by 2025. The Victoria
Renewable Energy Auction Scheme (VREAS) is created to achieve these
targets (DELWP, 2018a). Besides, under the Electricity Industry
Act 2000 , various forms of FiTs had been provided to renewable
technologies until 2016. In 2017, the Act was amended to consolidate
these FiTs with the passage of the Energy Legislation Amendment (Feed-in
Tariffs and Improving Safety and Markets) Bill. The Bill also requires
the Essential Services Commission to determine the rates of FiTs each
year (DELWP, 2018b).
In South Australia, the state government enacted the Climate
Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act in 2007. The Act includes
a renewable energy target of at least 20 per cent of electricity
generation and consumption by 2014, which was increased to 33 per cent
by 2020 in 2009, and 50 per cent by 2025 in 2014. Besides, FiTs have
also been provided in the state to encourage the uptake of residential
rooftop solar PV systems. These FiTs are regulated by theElectricity (Feed-in Scheme – Solar Systems) Amendment Act 2008,and the Electricity (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2011 (South
Australian Government, 2018).
In 2016, the government of Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legislated
a target of sourcing 100% of the state’s electricity from renewable
sources. The ACT government also enacted the Electricity Feed-in
(Large-scale Renewable Energy Generation) Act in 2011, which
establishes an auction scheme for procuring renewable projects. Under
the scheme, private investors are invited to bid for renewable projects.
Winners are awarded long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with
‘contract for difference’ FiTs (ACT Government, 2017). Similar action
schemes have also been introduced in Queensland (QLD) for acquiring new
renewable capacity, under the Powering Queensland Plan (DMEW,
2018).
Institutions
The previous sections presented key policies and legislations for
promoting renewable generation in Australia. These policies and
legislations have been made and implemented by a range of institutions
at both federal and state levels. Figure 1 provides a broad contour of
the current institutional structure for governing renewable energy
industry. Further details are discussed as follows.