The 2020 renewables target is already set to be exceeded by projects now under construction

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Weak targets suggested for the proposed national energy guarantee will threaten a massive 27 gigawatts of renewable energy projects proposed for development across Australia.

Were they to go ahead, these projects would produce as much capacity as 17 Hazelwood power stations and mean half of Australia’s electricity was supplied by renewables.

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But many are likely to never get the finance they need, since the government’s 2020 renewable energy target is already set to be exceeded by projects now under construction, according to the latest renewable energy index produced by Green Energy Markets and funded by GetUp.

The government’s target is for 33,000GWh to be produced by large-scale renewables by 2020 but wind, solar and bio-energy projects already under construction are likely to produce almost 40,000GWh of electricity by then.

The further 27GW of large-scale renewable projects proposed, combined with the expected growth in rooftop solar, would mean just over half of Australia’s electricity supply could be met with renewables by 2030.

“Most of these projects will remain dormant until the government puts its long-term Paris agreement commitments into a legally enforceable policy,” the report, authored by Tristan Edis from Green Energy Markets, concludes.

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The proposed emissions target in the national energy guarantee – a mere 26% cut in emissions from the national electricity market below 2005 levels by 2030 – would not provide the policy incentive to get the projects built.

It is estimated they would deliver 13,443 jobs during construction, were they to go ahead.

“There’s going to be another investment drought in renewables unless we get better targets than those proposed under Malcolm Turnbull’s NEG,” said Miriam Lyons, energy campaign director at GetUp.

“These are projects that are already under development, that could be sabotaged by our own government’s lack of vision.”