Victoria's energy scheme 'half baked'

Windy way ahead: the Alinta wind farm in Geraldton, Western Australia.
Photo: Erin Jonasson

WIND farm developers could be forced to abandon Victoria because the State Government's proposal to set up a state-based renewable energy scheme is "too weak", industry groups claim.

In March, The Age revealed the Government would move to bring in legislation before the November election that would require retailers to generate a higher percentage of their power from renewable sources.

Cabinet is reviewing a range of measures that have been put forward to create and sustain a renewable energy market in Victoria.

While most agree the proposal is "the only show in town", given the Federal Government's refusal to extend its mandatory renewable energy target, some stakeholders have expressed concern at implementing a "half-baked" scheme.

Christian Spitzner, the managing director of Turnus Energy, said a recent Government briefing to the energy industry revealed:

■ The Victorian Renewable Energy Target scheme would cease 15 years after being implemented.

■ An election promise of 10 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010 would not be met, with the target extended to 2015 or 2017.

■ The penalty for not reaching the target would be $40 per megawatt hour.

Mr Spitzner said wind farms, to be viable, needed to be financed for at least 20 years, penalties needed to be higher than $40 per MWh and the 10 per cent target should be reached before 2015.

Mr Spitzner said Victoria's low energy prices meant wind farm developers would need to consider large-scale developments in coastal areas to justify set-up costs.

Australian Wind Energy Association chief executive Dominique La Fontaine said larger wind farms were a reality of the proposal.