TASMANIA’S stalled Musselroe Bay wind farm has been given a fillip with the announcement of a new renewable energy scheme.
Federal Climate Change minister Penny Wong announced the government would split its renewable energy target scheme, separating the impact of small home solar panel and solar hot water systems from large commercial wind farms and solar power stations.
The split is designed to encourage investment in commercial wind farms and other large scale renewable energy projects, with more than $20 billion of projects now halted around Australia.
The slowdown has been blamed on the government’s subsidy scheme for the installation of home solar hot water systems causing an unintended slump in the value of tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates [RECs] from $50 to $30 per megawatt hour a unit.
Roarings 40s managing director Steve Symons, said recently his company would not be able to build and viably operate the planned Musselroe wind farm on Tasmania’s north-east tip, until the REC value climbed closer to the $50 mark again.
