Canberra, Australia - The Australian Government will commit a further $652.5 million over four years to establish a Renewable Energy Future Fund to support Australia’s response to climate
change.

Announced today, the Fund will provide additional support: for
the development and deployment of large and small scale renewable
energy projects, for example further investments in geothermal,
solar and wave energy; and to enhance take-up of industrial,
commercial and residential energy efficiency, helping Australian
businesses and households reduce their energy
consumption. 

The Fund will include partnerships between the Government and
the private sector to make critical early stage investments to
leverage private funds to support the commercialisation of
renewable technologies.   

This Fund will form part of the Government’s expanded $5.1
billion Clean Energy Initiative, which includes the $2 billion
Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships Program and the $1.5 billion
Solar Flagships Program announced in last year’s budget.

It will also complement the existing support provided through
the Government’s expanded Renewable Energy Target of 20 per cent by
2020. This additional funding brings the Government’s total
investments in renewable and clean energy and energy efficiency to
over $10 billion.

The Renewable Energy Future Fund will be delivered through a
number of departments and agencies, with the Department of Climate
Change and Energy Efficiency coordinating Fund priorities and
progress. Details of the specific commitments under the Fund will
be announced shortly.

All funding resulting from the deferral of the Carbon Pollution
Reduction Scheme, as well as some existing departmental funding
from within the Climate Change and Energy Efficiency portfolio,
will be used to offset the cost of this Fund.

Today the Government also announced decisions to invest a
further $110.5 million from existing renewable energy programs in
the following projects:

Australian Centre for Renewable Energy funding for solar
projects under the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program

• $32 million for CS Energy to build a 23MW[1] solar boost to
  coal-fired turbines at Kogan Creek, near Chinchilla in western
  Queensland; and
  
  
  
  



• $60 million for N.P. Power Pty Ltd (Whyalla Solar Oasis
  consortium) to build a 40MW concentrated solar thermal
  demonstration plant at Whyalla, South Australia, using Australia’s
  own “Big Dish” technology.

Australian Solar Institute (research into advanced solar energy
technologies)

• $5.0 million for a project run by the University of New South
  Wales to overcome the performance limitations of commercial solar
  cells;
  
  
  
  



• $2.25 million for a project run by BT Imaging Pty Ltd to
  improve the performance of photovoltaic manufacturing;
  
  
  
  



• $4.95 million for an Australian National University led applied
  research project in collaboration with industry to help develop the
  next generation of solar cells;
  
  
  
  



• $2.25 million for a project run by Sapphicon Semiconductor Pty
  Ltd to develop a high-efficiency, integrated solar module on a
  transparent substrate; and
  
  
  
  



• $4.0 million for a project run by CSIRO and the Australian
  National University to develop advanced solar thermal energy
  storage technologies.

$1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program

Eight projects have been shortlisted under round one of the
Solar Flagships Program. The shortlisted projects announced below
will now share up to $15 million in feasibility funding.

• Solar photovoltaic

o   AGL Energy proposes a
multi-site project using thin film cadmium telluride solar
photovoltaic technology generating up to150MW at multiple sites
across Australia including ACT, NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and
South Australia;

o   TRUenergy proposes a
single site near Mildura, using thin film cadmium telluride solar
photovoltaic technology to generate up to 180MW;

o   Infigen/Suntech’s
crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic technology would be deployed
at up to three sites in New South Wales or Victoria to generate up
to 195MW; and

o   BPSolar proposes a
single axis tracking photovoltaic system to generate 150MW from
plants constructed at several locations in New South Wales.

•  Solar thermal

o   ACCIONA Energy Oceania
proposes to generate 200MW using solar thermal parabolic trough
technology at a single site in either Queensland or South
Australia;

o   Parsons Brinckerhoff
proposes to construct a 150MW solar thermal parabolic trough power
station at Kogan Creek in Queensland;

o   Wind Prospect CWP
proposes to use linear fresnel technology at Kogan Creek in
Queensland to construct a 250MW power plant; and

o   Transfield proposes to
convert the Collinsville coal-fired power station in Queensland
into a 150MW solar thermal linear fresnel power plant.

The Government intends to announce the two final successful
applicants - one solar thermal and one solar photovoltaic - for
Round One of the Solar Flagships Program in the first half of 2011.
In addition, the Governmentannounced the appointment of the Board
of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy (ACRE) under the
Chairmanship of Professor Mary O’Kane, the NSW Chief Scientist and
Scientific Engineer.

Boost for Geothermal Energy Exploration

In a huge boost for geothermal energy exploration, the
Government’s new tax plan announced on 2nd May includes a new
resource exploration rebate (RER), within the company income tax
system, from 1 July 2011. For a company in a tax loss position that
spends $1 million on exploration, the RER will provide an immediate
cash benefit of $300,000.

Australia has one of the best renewable energy resource bases in
the world - in geothermal, wind, solar, ocean and bioenergy. For
the first time, ABARE and Geoscience Australia have mapped and
compiled a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s rich energy
resource endowment, including both renewables and
non-renewables.

The recently published Australian Energy Resource Assessment is
now available for download, free of charge, at href=”http://www.ga.gov.au/”
target=”_blank”>http://www.ga.gov.au/ and colour printed copies
can be purchased from Geoscience Australia.

Australia is also participating in international efforts to
accelerate the development and deployment of both renewable energy
and energy efficiency technologies to support the global response
to climate change. Australia joined the International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) in June 2009 and has committed $5.6 million
over 4 years to support this forum.

Today in Washington, Australia will also become a full member of
the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation
(IPEEC), an initiative of the G8 Energy Ministers’ meeting in May
2009. The Australian Government is contributing $150,000 per annum
to this forum. Membership of IPEEC will offer a flexible
international forum for Australia to engage exclusively on energy
efficiency initiatives as part of the global climate change
response.