Australian Councils Grab the Wind Initiative

It’s been well-documented that the Australian Government has got cold feet over its pursuance of renewable energy for a variety of reasons, both economic and political. So where does this leave renewable energy promoters down-under?

Hats off then to to an inspirational group of Melbourne city councils who want to re-kindle wind power initiatives that have stalled because of uncertainty over Australia’s renewable energy target. The Melbourne councils are banding together to skirt state and federal renewable policies and appeal directly to green energy providers. Solar and wind farms will be asked if they can provide councils with energy at a similar cost to fossil fuels. The City of Melbourne, City of Maribyrnong and City Of Yarra will open a dialogue with clean energy producers ahead of a potential full tender process. If this catches on it could escalate into a cross-continent initiative to directly influence and boost the renewable energy uptake.

The triumvirate of councils have partnered with businesses including Mirvac and Federation Square for this initiative. Solar and wind farms, will be asked the crucial question: Whether they can supply the group’s combined requirement of no less than 100GWh of energy at similar or lower cost than fossil fuel providers. That may seem a tall order, but let’s put this in perspective- that sort of energy will require only 15 modern wind turbines. Or on the solar side, 250,000 solar panels.

The councils would have preferred to find renewable energy projects that are ready to proceed. Unfortunately uncertainty over the national renewable energy target, has not just hindered green energy growth, but brought investment to a virtual halt and in confidence take a severe knock.

The Australian region of Victoria has also been hit by severe restrictions on new wind farm developments, allowing states such as South Australia surge ahead of it in terms of clean energy. But this initiative should help councils and businesses offer a reliable demand for renewable energy providers to allow their projects to proceed, while at the same time potentially driving down the cost for users.

Underpinning this is the City of Melbourne has a goal of zero net emissions by 2020. This target is supplemented by a goal of sourcing 25% of electricity from renewable sources by 2018. Progress has not been good: Only 5% of this target has been achieved via rooftop solar panels in the city of Melbourne, prompting the council to look to large-scale renewable projects in other parts of the state. By way of comparison the City of Sydney has a a target of 30% of renewable energy by 2030.

Over to City of Melbourne councilor Arron Wood who was asked to comment on the renewable policies (or lack of them) of both state and federal governments:

“We are literally going out to test the market and find out what the price is. Our hope is that they will be on a par with fossil fuels or cheaper, because then the business case becomes a no-brainer because renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels in the long-term. There are certainly some worrying signs over the state government’s attitude to renewable energy. There are genuine business opportunities for the state and we’re saying we’re open for business for renewable energy. There’s been the removal of the carbon price and uncertainty over the RET, meaning that in quick time a $1bn industry has ground to a halt. We can demonstrate a model that isn’t just a purchase of green energy, it can drive investment in new renewable energy. Most metropolitan councils in Australia have a renewable energy target. Cities are well set-up to band together for large-scale renewable generation. I feel many of them would be interested in this.”

Reaction to the trio of Melbourne councils’ initiative has come from all across the wind energy sector. WestWind, a German wind farm developer that has two approved projects in western Victoria, said it welcomed the initiative.

There is much criticism of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Government’s lack of vision and leadership in striving towards a green future. Especially when many parts of Australia are blessed with an abundance of wind; virtually all year round in Victoria. That’s why the councils have decided not to be dictated to by a blinkered Government and try something themselves. Let’s hope they succeed!