Australia launches A$100 million program for renewables

SYDNEY, Australia, June 15, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

The government of Australia has launched a A$100 million fund to support renewable energies.

The Renewable Energy Development Initiative will provide matching competitive grants of up to $5 million to companies which develop renewable energy projects with significant potential for greenhouse gas abatement. The seven-year program is a competitive merit-based grant program that was announced last June as part of the federal white paper, ‘Securing Australia's Energy Future.’

“Renewable energy technology plays an important role in our energy mix and is a key element of Australia’s overall greenhouse response in the energy sector,” says industry minister Ian Macfarlane. “REDI will support renewable energy projects from early stage R&D right through to commercialisation - helping to develop an internationally competitive renewable energy industry in Australia.”

Renewables are defined as direct or enabling technologies developed for the purpose of deriving sustainable energy, and include solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydro, wave, tidal and ocean energy, or any other source approved by the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO). Enabling technologies include energy storage, power electronics, biomass fuel collection or handling or control technologies that are used with renewable energy technologies.

REDI specifically excludes fossil fuels and fossil-derived waste products, including coal seam methane, waste coal mine gas, waste heat from cogeneration, electricity generated from cogeneration based on fossil fuels and non-biomass component of co-firing. Eligible companies must not receive significant recurrent government funding.

The closing date for first-round funding applications is August 25. Projects funded under REDI must be completed within three years.

“The government’s investment in renewable energy initiatives to date is expected to reduce emissions by around seven million tonnes each year,” adds environment minister Ian Campbell, whose department will co-administer the initiative. “I’d like to think that in a few years, a REDI-funded project will boost that figure even further.”

Macfarlane launched the fund while visiting BP Solar, the largest producer of solar panels in the southern hemisphere. The company employs 300 in Australia and has an export market into East Asia and the Pacific.

The former Renewable Energy Commercialisation Program was a five-year $56 million program administered by the AGO to provided commercialization grants. REDI is a broader program, supporting applicants at each stage of a project’s lifecycle from early-stage commercialization to development and proof-of-concept activities.

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