Today outlined their funding strategy out to 2015, which includes strategic, supporting and complementary initiatives to drive long-term change.
ARENA brings under one process a wide range of early stage and commercialisation programs, with a combined value of in excess of $2 billion. The initial focus of the Agency will be on rural and regional use of renewable energy.
“The General Funding Strategy will allow ARENA to be innovative, action-orientated and nimble, which aligns with the advice the industry gave us,” Mr Bourne said.
The Investment Plan includes four new programs aimed at delivering renewable systems in regional and remote locations, removing roadblocks for regional and remote renewable energy, building Australia’s next generation solar and developing a comprehensive knowledge sharing program.
“The Regional Australia’s Renewables program will aim to deliver renewable systems in regional locations where energy consumption is forecast to increase and where fossil fuel-based generation costs are the greatest,” Mr Bourne said.
The popular Emerging Renewables program and the Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund remain open for business. ARENA’s current portfolio includes a range of renewable energy projects, soon to be supplemented by solar research and development projects from the Australian Solar Institute.
ARENA's support for solar energy will continue by running new rounds of the Australian Solar Institute’s successful PhD scholarship and post-doctorate fellowship program, delivering the next generation of Australian solar researchers.
Mr Bourne said ARENA has made tough decisions on projects referred to it from the Solar Flagships Program resulting in an increase to $2.2 billion in funds available for investment.
“ARENA continues to support large-scale solar projects, such as the AGL-First Solar thin-film PV solar project previously announced by the Australian Government,” Mr Bourne said.
“We are also continuing discussions with Moree Solar Farm and Infigen-Suntech on potential projects based on their short-listed Solar Flagships program applications.”
Mr Bourne said ARENA is not pursuing the TRUenergy (now EnergyAustralia) project because of its broad similarity to the AGL Energy project. After exploring several options to address current market conditions, ARENA is also no longer pursuing development of the 250 MW Solar Dawn solar thermal project in Queensland.
The General Funding Strategy is a framework for ARENA’s operations and outlines priorities for the coming three years. It will be updated annually. ARENA will release new investment plans as additional initiatives are developed.
According to a statement released by the Australian Solar Council, the Council welcomes ARENA's approach to funding, seeking to support a wide range of worthy projects, both on its own and in conjunction with other government programs and private sector investors.
