Sustainable energy technologies to tackle climate change in Victoria
Friday, April 4, 2008
From the Premier of Victoria
Victoria’s status as a global leader in the development of renewable energy will be boosted by a $72 million Brumby Government fund for large-scale sustainable energy projects.
Opening the Victorian Climate Change Summit, Premier John Brumby said the $72 million fund would be used to breathe new life into large-scale renewable energy projects across the state, such as solar energy, wave power, geothermal and biomass conversion.
“Climate change is creating a climate of opportunity for Victoria and this government is taking action now to prepare our communities for the future,” Mr Brumby said.
“Climate change means that we need to be innovative in our approach to energy technology development and generation if we want to be both sustainable and prosperous.
“This new fund will be used to help finance proposals for large-scale, renewable demonstration projects across the state.
The new $72 million fund forms the next stage of the successful Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) grants.
ETIS funding has leveraged $250 million from the Commonwealth and $1.2 billion of co-investment, primarily from industry, in a range of brown coal, renewable and clean energy innovation projects.
A $50 million Brumby Government contribution in the last ETIS round secured the construction of one of the most advanced solar power stations in the world through a partnership with Solar Systems.
“Once completed this 154 MW power plant will provide enough zero emissions electricity to light up a city the size of Geelong and will demonstrate that renewable energy can have a significant impact on our energy use,” Mr Brumby said.
Mr Brumby said Government action to address climate change had already reduced Victoria’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,660,000 tonnes per year.
“But more needs to be done to ensure our communities are well-equipped to meet the challenges of climate change and our Government is committed to driving advances in low emissions technology,” he said.
“That’s why our Government is working to increase the supply of green power through the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) which came into effect this year and is expected to save about 27 million tonnes of greenhouse gas by 2016 – the equivalent of removing every car from Victoria’s roads for two years.
“VRET will also drive up to $2 billion of new investment in clean energy, as well as create about 2000 new jobs.”
At the opening of Victoria’s Climate Change Summit, Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings said converting Parliament House to GreenPower was part of the Brumby Government’s commitment to address climate change.
“The Brumby Government met its commitment to purchase 10 per cent GreenPower and we have now increased that target to 25 per cent by 2010,” Mr Jennings said.
“Victorians have doubled their GreenPower uptake and Victoria leads the nation on GreenPower.
“Our success in adopting GreenPower will not be enough on its own to tackle our greenhouse gas emissions but it is an important part of the community and the Government’s response to climate change.”
Further opportunities for large-scale clean energy projects and new vehicle technologies including hybrid buses and energy efficient street lighting will be investigated under a landmark agreement with US-based William J. Clinton Foundation.
Minister for Energy and Resources, Peter Batchelor said a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed between Victoria and the Foundation’s Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) later this month with the aim of further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Victoria is committed to investigating the development of clean energy opportunities based on solar, biomass, geothermal and other clean energy options,” Mr Batchelor said.
“CCI will actively assist in this important task, providing support and facilitation services focussed on delivering State priorities.”
Chairman of the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), Ira Magaziner, welcomed the decision to sign the MOU.
“I applaud Victoria for its leadership in addressing climate change,” Mr Magaziner said.
“We look forward to assisting the State with projects to improve energy efficiency and increase clean energy generation in tangible and measurable ways."
