Victoria Renewables Target of 30% Is Achievable, Modeling Shows
by Gay Alcorn
April 11, 2016 – The Victorian Labor government’s announcement on a renewable energy target is imminent.  So environment, union and business groups are urging the premier, Daniel Andrews, to be ambitious.  They say it would send a national message on clean energy.
Friends of the Earth has produced a report saying a 30% target by 2020 is practical and achievable in Victoria.  Likewise, it would maximize the state’s share of clean energy investment and jobs.  South Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory already have targets designed to give them an advantage.
The Victorian government has promised a 2020 and 2025 target.  It has held consultations on what the figure should be.  It has suggested a baseline that at least 20% of electricity generation should be produced by renewable sources by 2020.  It is due to release its plan within weeks.
A Friends of the Earth spokesman, Leigh Ewbank, said modellng by the group found that a 30% target could be achieved, if rooftop solar growth continued at current rates and already approved or almost approved wind farms went ahead.  The plan would also require that existing permits for wind farms allow upgraded turbines.  The Melbourne Energy Institute’s Dylan McConnell reviewed the modeling. 
Wind projects had stalled, Ewbank said, because of investor uncertainty over the federal government’s commitment to the national renewable energy target, which the Abbott government reviewed.  Last year, the target was cut and is now set at 23% by 2020.
At the same time, state and territory governments are aggressively pursing opportunities in renewable energy; some setting their own targets.  Most ambitious is the ACT; it aims for 90% of its energy needs produced by clean energy by 2020.
Victoria’s peak union organization, the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the Municipal Association of Victoria, and the City of Melbourne have all called for Victoria to set an ambitious target.  “Our analysis shows what’s technically possible, looking at the wind projects that are already on the books and maintaining a moderate solar growth,” Ewbank said.  “Given the attacks that the industry has withstood under the Tony Abbott era, it’s ambitious, because we have to rebuild [the industry].”
The group would like a 50% target by 2025, similar to Queensland’s goal by 2030.  The federal opposition has proposed that 50% of energy needs should be from renewables by 2030, but has released few details.
The vast majority of Victoria’s energy needs are supplied by aging brown coal-fired power stations, which are especially polluting.  About 14% is supplied by renewable energy, up from 6% in 2009.
The Victorian opposition has appointed its 1st spokesman for renewable energy, David Southwick.  He told a rally earlier this year that “Victoria and Australia are experiencing a renewables revolution.  It is led by the people, because the people want it, voters want it, and the community wants it”.  It has yet to specify a target.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/12/victoria-renewables-target-of-30-is-achievable-modelling-shows