The key federal institutions that govern the renewable energy industry
include the following.
The Council of Australian Government (COAG) was established in
1992 as the principal institution in governing issues of national
significance or matters that need co-ordination by all Australian
governments. The Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) , as part of
the COAG, was established in 2001, to provide overarching guidance in
energy sector policy and planning. The MCE comprises ministers with
responsibility for energy from the federal government and all states and
territories. The MCE was merged with the Ministerial Council on Mineral
and Petroleum Resources in 2011, as the Standing Council on Energy
and Resources (SCER ). Later, the SCER was replaced by the COAG
Energy Council in 2013, as the outcome of efforts to streamline the
COAG council system (COAG Energy Council, 2018).
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources was established
in 2001, and is responsible for policy-making and implementation in the
energy sector, including renewable energy. Following the 2007 election,
the responsibility for energy matters was transferred to the newly
created Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism . This
responsibility was again transferred to the Department of the
Environment and Energy (DoEE) , after the 2016 election. The DoEE is
responsible for administering various renewable energy legislations,
such as, the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act, the Australian
Renewable Energy Agency Act, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act
(DoEE, 2018). It also oversees the institutions, responsible for
implementing these legislations. These institutions are:
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) was created in 2012 as the
independent statutory authority, responsible for administering schemes
legislated by the federal government for measuring, managing, reducing
or offsetting Australia’s GHG emissions. One of these schemes is the
Renewable Energy Target scheme, under the Renewable Energy (Electricity)
Act (CER, 2016).
Created by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act, theAustralian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is responsible for
promoting the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable
energy, through the provision of financial assistance for R&D programs
in renewable technologies and early-stage commercialisation renewable
projects. The ARENA was initially provided with A$3.2 billion funding
over the period 2013-2020. The funding was later reduced to A$2
billion, as part of a A$6 billion budget-saving package (Hopkin, 2016).
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) was established by
the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act in 2012, with the aims to
facilitate and increase flows of finance into the clean energy
technologies – renewables, energy efficiency and low-emission
technologies (excluding CCS and nuclear). The CEFC makes commercial
investments in these technologies based on guidance provided by
responsible ministers (i.e., environment and finance) in the
forms of the Investment Mandate. It has been observed in the past few
years that the Investment Mandate has tended to direct the CEFC to
invest in certain renewable technologies (Keany, 2015).
Besides, in various Australian states, the Minister with energy
portfolios also has the responsibility for making and implementing
state-based support for renewable energy. This responsibility is
normally assumed by the Department associated with the Energy Minister,
such as, Department of Environment and Planning in New South Wales,
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in Victoria,
Department for Energy and Mining in South Australia, and Department of
Natural Resources, Mines and Energy in Queensland. The Energy Minister
could also delegate the responsibility to an authorised entity. For
example, in New South Wales, the Energy Minister has transferred the FiT
regulatory functions from the NSW Department of Environment and Planning
to Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). This transfer
took effect in 2015 when IPART received a referral from the Energy
Minister to determine the annual solar FiT benchmark under Section43ECA
of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (IPART, 2016).