Solar experts say Australian renewable energy investment being stifled by Government policy

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One of the world's most advanced solar power companies has shelved plans to develop electricity plants for the public market in Australia because of the Government's apparent hostility to renewable energy.

Solar Reserve, based in Santa Monica, California, has pioneered a technology that combines mass-scale solar power generation with storage, allowing energy from the sun to be "time-shifted" and used 24 hours a day.

Other markets around the world are advancing. Australia is going to get left behind. Solar Reserve chief executive Kevin Smith

The company hopes the mining industry will take up the technology at remote mine sites which currently rely on polluting - and heavily subsidised - fuel.

But the company has given up on ambitions to generate electricity for the retail market in Australia.

Solar Reserve chief executive Kevin Smith told the ABC's Four Corners program the company had been deterred by a drift in policy and the planned scrapping of the carbon tax.

It was also concerned about the appointment of Dick Warburton, who doubts that carbon emissions are causing global warming, to lead a review of Australia's Renewable Energy Target.

"That policy change pretty much took the life out of the renewable energy sector as far as large-scale projects for utility applications [are concerned]," Mr Smith said.

"Other markets around the world are advancing. Australia is going to get left behind."

On Mr Warburton's appointment, Mr Smith said: "Clearly that appointment was made because they want to move back towards conventional fuels, coal and oil.

"It's pretty clear that the policy in Australia is now being centred around big coal. The coal industry clearly has rallied to move policy away from renewable energies because they view renewable energy as a threat and want to move back to convention coal."

Australia risks 'going the way of the dodo'

Australian businessman Danny Kennedy co-founded a rooftop solar company, Sungevity, in 2006 – locating the company in Oakland, California, because of the availability of venture capital and the policy support for renewable energy in California.

Sungevity now has more than 500 employees and operates worldwide.

Mr Kennedy says Australia risks "going the way of the dodo" and missing out on "the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century" if it continues to favour coal over renewable power.

"We get stuck in quarry Australia mentality from the 20th century while the rest of the world is phasing out coal and trying to move towards these new industries and creating whole new ways of doing business and jobs which Australians may never benefit from," he said.

Australia's starting to actually fight the future and it seems like a mistake to me for a country with such a wealth of natural renewable energy resources California energy commissioner David Hochschild

The Government announced plans in the budget to scrap the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) alongside previously announced plans to scrap the Climate Change Authority and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, but it is having difficulty winning support for the changes in the Senate.

The direction of policy in Australia contrasts with the situation across the Pacific.

Four years ago, California increased its renewable energy target to 33 per cent by 2020 – a target it looks set to easily reach.

California energy commissioner David Hochschild said the target was driving investment and innovation.

"Today in California we have the largest geothermal power plant in the world, the largest wind power plant in the world, the largest solar thermal power plant in the world, the largest solar PV power plant in the world, and the largest manufacturing operation in the state of California today is an electric car company," he said, adding that the scale of investment was no surprise.

"When you establish a long-term policy with certainty it's actually pretty clear what happens. Investors see that opportunity. They open their pocketbooks, they write the cheques, you get investment in innovation and you get to scale and that brings down prices."

Mr Hochschild described the direction of policy in Australia as disappointing.

"I really feel Australia's starting to actually fight the future and it seems like a mistake to me for a country with such a wealth of natural renewable energy resources," he said.

"You look at the potential of wind and solar and tidal resources there - it's really unmatched in the world, and so it seems to me Australia really could be a leader internationally if the country set itself on that path."

Environment Minister Greg Hunt denied the Federal Government was hostile to renewable energy and said it would be approaching the review of the RET with "an open mind".

Topics: climate-change, environment, electricity-energy-and-utilities, solar-energy, wind-energy, australia, united-states

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