Friends of the Earth joins union and business groups to call on state premier to adopt an ambitious target

With the Victorian Labor government’s announcement on a renewable energy target imminent, environment, union and business groups are urging the premier, Daniel Andrews, to be ambitious, saying it would send a national message on clean energy.

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Friends of the Earth has produced a report saying a 30% target by 2020 is practical and achievable in Victoria and would maximise 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 and 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 and is due to release its plan within weeks.



A Friends of the Earth spokesman, Leigh Ewbank, said modelling by the group, reviewed by the Melbourne Energy Institute’s Dylan McConnell, 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. It would also require that existing permits for wind farms allow upgraded turbines.

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, with some setting their own targets. Most ambitious is the ACT, which is aiming for 90% of its energy needs produced by clean energy by the end of the decade.

Victoria’s peak union organisation, 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].”

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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 ageing 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 first spokesman for renewable energy, David Southwick, who 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.