Green Power policy aims to encourage more power generation from renewable sources

18/12/99
Electricity generated in Western Australia is about to become 'greener' with the release today of the State Government's new Green Power policy, encouraging more power generation from renewable sources.
Energy Minister Colin Barnett released the policy today at one of WA's four landfill gas power generation sites, where methane is extracted from degrading household rubbish and converted into electricity which is then supplied to households and businesses by Western Power.
Mr Barnett said the State Government already had a strong commitment to the development of renewable energy sources, with solar, wind, hydro and landfill power generation projects operating around the State.
He said the new Green Power policy would encourage the development of further renewable energy projects on the State's main electricity grid and give WA businesses and households a chance to purchase their electricity from renewable sources.
Currently less than one per cent of electricity generated on WA's main electricity grid was from renewable sources.
With the State Government's Green Power policy and additional renewable energy projects, the Minister said he expected this to increase to around 4.5 per cent of electricity generation by 2010.
"There is a growing expectation in the wider community that Governments and private industry will do more to support the growth of renewable energy," Mr Barnett said.
"The Green Power Policy will encourage the development of cost-effective generation from renewable sources and importantly, give Western Australians an opportunity to play their part in growing the green energy industry which will lead to overall environmental benefits, including a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions."
NaturalPower
Mr Barnett said the first of these opportunities for Western Australians, would come through a new independently-accredited Western Power product - NaturalPower.
From March next year, consumers will be able to choose to pay three cents per unit more for either a portion of, or their whole electricity needs, for power generated from renewable sources.
For example, it would cost an extra 20 cents per day, or $1.36 per week, for a typical household to source 50 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy sources under NaturalPower.
The extra money paid by customers under NaturalPower will be invested by Western Power into new renewable energy projects and will also be used to pay up to three cents per unit more for the green electricity generated by independent power producers.
"Under the Green Power policy, Western Power will be required to source at least 50 per cent of its NaturalPower electricity from private sector power producers," Mr Barnett said.
"There are a growing number of private groups wanting to develop renewable energy projects and they need a ready market into which they can sell their green power.
"This ready market, at least in the initial years, will be Western Power, which will pay up to three cents more per unit for the green energy and then distribute it to customers on the electricity grid."
Sustainable Energy Development Fund
The Minister also said that the State Government would match dollar for dollar the extra money paid by consumers for electricity from renewable energy sources.
The Government's contributions will be up to $1 million each year for the first five years of the program, and directed into a new Sustainable Energy Development Fund.
Monies in this Fund will be used to assist independent power producers to develop new renewable energy projects.
As well, the Government will give independent renewable energy producers an advantage in the market to help grow their industry in its own right.
From September 30, independent renewable energy generators will be able supply their green electricity, independent of Western Power, to any customer which uses more than 300,000 kWh of power each year.
All other independent electricity producers will only be able to sell their power to customers using more than one megawatt of electricity each year on the main grid.
"Modest capital grants from the Sustainable Energy Development Fund will be made to the private sector to help get renewable energy projects off the ground," Mr Barnett said.
"In addition to this funding, which will be distributed on a competitive bidding basis making allowances for projects producing additional environmental benefits, the Green Power policy will give independent power producers greater access to Western Power's distribution system to increase the number and range of their potential customers."
Renewable Energy projects
Mr Barnett said renewable energy power generation systems were already in place around the State, mainly producing power off the main electricity grid, or on its periphery. These included:

• a 20 kilowatt photovoltaic (solar) plant at Kalbarri;
• two windfarms in Esperance with a total capacity of 2.4MW;
• three wind turbines at Denham;
• hydroelectricity plants at Wellington Dam and the Ord River with 32MW of generating capacity collectively;
• four landfill gas sites with the potential to produce 11.4MW of electricity; and -
• more than 160 individual renewable energy-based power systems installed by households in remote areas of the State under the Government's Remote Area Power Systems (RAPS) scheme.

Mr Barnett said these renewable systems were proving successful and beneficial environmentally.
Altogether, it is estimated that the renewable energy generation systems around the State have saved approximately 240 million litres of diesel fuel, more than $120 million in fuel costs, and the equivalent of 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
"The most viable technologies currently available for producing green electricity are about four to 10 cents per unit more expensive than generation from conventional fossil fuels such as coal," Mr Barnett said.
"Customer-oriented programs such as NaturalPower and the Government's new Sustainable Energy Development Fund, will allow the development of renewable energy projects to become more financially viable."
The Minister said the State's next renewable energy project was likely to be a new 20 megawatt (MW) wind farm at Albany, the only one in the State to feed into the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) electricity grid.
This would supply electricity to customers from Kalbarri to Albany, east to Kalgoorlie and everywhere in between, including Perth.
The wind farm would be the largest in Australia and would produce 10 times more electricity than Western Power's 10 Mile Lagoon wind farm in Esperance.
The project has been through a feasibility study over the past 12 months and pending further approvals, it could be feeding 'green' electricity to homes and businesses by April 2001.
Media contact: Justine Whittome, (08) 9222 9699
GREEN POWER POLICY KEY ELEMENTS

• Electricity customers on the SWIS will have an opportunity to purchase some or all of their power from grid-based renewable generation projects;
• the first of these opportunities will come through Western Power's NaturalPower. From March next year, customers will have a choice of paying an extra three cents per unit for some or all of their electricity to be generated from renewable sources. Similar projects to NaturalPower are already operating in the eastern states, in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales;
• the State Government will match dollar for dollar the extra money paid by consumers for electricity from renewable energy sources, including NaturalPower. This money, up to $1 million each year for the first five years of the program, will be used to create the Sustainable Energy Development Fund to assist independent power producers to establish new renewable energy projects;
• Western Power will be required to competitively source at least 50 per cent of its NaturalPower electricity from independent power producers;
• from September 30 next year, independent power producers with renewable generation projects will be able to use the Western Power grid to sell 'green' electricity direct to large commercial customers using more than 300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, such as supermarkets and small office buildings;
• also from September 30 next year, renewable energy generators will be able to sell up to 100 kilowatts of green electricity 'over the fence' to customers immediately adjacent to their premises without using Western Power's distribution system;
• the State Government will direct an extra $50,000 in 1999-2000, and $100,000 each year thereafter to 2003-04, towards energy efficiency campaigns;
• the State Government will continue funding the successful Remote Area Power Systems scheme over the next four years, and provide a $500,000 per annum to 2003-04.

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