The ACT has passed legislation to allow for medium-scale solar installations to access the ACT's feed-in tariff. The ACT Feed-in Tariff Scheme commenced on 1 March 2009 and pays a Premium Price for renewable energy generation in the ACT.

The Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Act 2008 includes

  • re-naming the existing household component as Micro Generator;
  • creation of the Medium Generator and the Community Based Generation categories;
  • introduction of capacity caps for both new categories (15 megawatts each);
  • provision of a mechanism for setting and reviewing the Premium Price applicable to each category; and
  • extension of scheme eligibility to include not-for-profit community organisations.

 

Under the amendments, individuals occupying rental or structurally unsuitable properties will be able to more easily participate and community groups can develop co-operatives to collectively develop shared generators. To assist in the uptake of the tariff, the Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water has developed the Solar Pays Community Guide, which provides information on collective generators.

Separate legislation is planned for later this year to support the development of larger scale facilities and this will be followed with an auction for the first 40MW tranche."

For more information on the ACT Feed-in Tariff Scheme, visit http://www.solarcapital.act.gov.au/