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Hornery, Sonia to the
Minister for Resources and Energy, Special Minister of State, and Minister for the Central Coast
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- What is the Government doing to assist the solar industry and the 3,700
people who have lost solar industry jobs in NSW since the Government scrapped
all solar support earlier this year?
- How will the Government's lack of support for the solar industry contribute
to awareness of climate change or create a buffer for increased power
prices?
- Is the Government aware that the number of solar installers in NSW has
decreased from 5,500 to a mere 1,800?
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Answer -
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- to (3) The NSW Government made the deliberate decision to allow an
additional 40,000 applicants entry under the Solar Bonus Scheme to provide
ongoing income and certainty for the industry. If all eligible applications
proceed with connection there will be around 370 megawatts of generating
capacity delivered, the largest capacity of any state or territory feed-in
tariff in Australia. This capacity significantly exceeds the 300 megawatt
closure trigger put into legislation by the former Government.
I am
advised that customers recognise the environmental and financial benefits of
solar panels and are still applying to connect small scale renewables even
without the Solar Bonus Scheme. Since the Scheme closed to new applications in
late April, at least 18,900 customers have applied to connect a small scale
renewable energy generator (solar photovoltaic system or wind turbine).
The current rate of applications per fortnight is over 1,900 which far exceeds
the 450 applications per fortnight which were being submitted in 2009 prior to
the Scheme's commencement. This current rate of new (non-Scheme) applications
is comparable to the periods January to June 2010 and early April 2011 just
prior to Scheme closure.
The NSW Government has also requested IPART
investigate and report on options for a fair price for electricity generated by
small scale solar photovoltaic systems and fed back into the grid.
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Question asked on 8 September 2011 (session 55-1)
and printed in
Questions & Answers Paper No. 40
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Answer received on 13 October 2011
and printed in
Questions & Answers Paper No. 49
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