Australia’s renewable energy industry under threat as targets to be reviewed

The renewable energy industry in Australia could be under threat with Prime Minister Tony Abbott poised to limit or even scrap clean energy targets as part of a review.

Abbott’s election campaign included assurances that Australia’s renewable energy target (RET) would be maintained, but the prime minister has appointed climate change sceptic, Dick Warburton, to head the review which follows his move to repeal the country’s carbon tax.

Maurice Newman, also a climate change sceptic, has been appointed as the government’s business advisor and has stated that the renewable energy target should be scrapped.

The current RET requires 45,000 gigawatt hours of power to be sourced from renewables by 2020 and provides subsidies to people installing solar systems.

The renewable energy industry is becoming increasingly alarmed at signals the government intends to drastically reduce, or even abolish, the target and the Australian solar council has launched a campaign to secure the future of solar power as concerns grow that the review will cripple the industry.

Details of the review are expected to be announced this month, and the government has struggled to circumvent legislative requirements that it be conducted by the climate change authority, which it intends to abolish.

Abbott has voiced concerns that the RET may have become a burden on business with rising gas export prices being cited as a reason. Abbott said last year: “the renewable energy target is causing pretty significant price pressure in the system and we ought to be an affordable energy superpower.”

Modelling released last week suggested abolishing the RET could cost 2,000 jobs in the solar panel industry and according to the Australian Energy Market Commission, the RET has increased retail electricity prices by 3.5 per cent.