The Victorian Coalition Government has increased funding for the Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) by $41 million in its 2011-12 budget, announced on Tuesday.

 

The ETIS was allocated $30 million by the former Labor Government in August 2010 to fund sustainable energy research and development and pilot demonstration projects.

 

Energy and Resources Minister Michael O'Brien said the Low Emission Energy Technology Program would effectively double funding available for renewable energy plants and low emission technology projects, in line with the Coalition election promise.

 

"Funding will be focused on energy technologies that are most relevant to Victoria's needs and resources, and on projects that develop a skilled workforce, which is necessary to develop and exploit the full potential of these technologies”, he said.

 

"The program will also allow Victoria to benefit from leveraging existing national and international investment."

 

Eligible technologies could include solar, biomass, geothermal, wave, smart grid, energy efficiency, fuel cells, small scale hydro, co-generation and tri-generation.

 

Mr O’Brien said that low emission energy technology projects generally have a high technical risk and are either too costly or otherwise unable to compete in the marketplace against current mainstream fossil fuel technologies.

 

"Innovations in many different fields of application over a period of decades are required to minimise the cost of these new technologies. By helping to drive renewable and lower emission energy technology down the cost curve, the ETIS program will help to deliver better environmental outcomes while reducing the impact on household power bills," he said.