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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [10.13 a.m.]: I do not lead for the Opposition on this bill but while we wait for the shadow Minister, I will make my contribution. While the Electricity Supply Amendment (Solar Bonus Scheme) Bill 2009 is a good start, it is only a beginning to utilising solar energy in New South Wales. We heard from the Parliamentary Secretary that this should encourage renewable energy, and indeed it should. Importantly, it encourages public participation, and the more public awareness and participation, the more chance we have of succeeding. This bill plays a key role in doing that. It is proactive as a climate change response, but it is short on vision. The community across New South Wales wants to see more vision and much more to be gained from solar energy. I am looking forward to outlining a framework that I strongly encourage the Government to consider if it wants to be a serious participant in the solar energy industry in this State rather than just making a token start. This will be important not only as a climate change response but also as a driver of the New South Wales economy. This is a big opportunity. The Government has started but it has not done enough.
The purpose of the bill is to establish a gross feed-in tariff that lasts for seven years. The shadow Minister, together with my colleague from Pittwater, will talk on this aspect but there are questions as to why it is such a short term. Anyone who comes into the scheme late will not be able to receive the benefit. It is clear the longer-term approach, whether it is up to 20 years, makes more sense. I am yet to understand from the Government why it has chosen the seven-year timeframe, but that is what it will be for small-scale solar photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, retrospective to 1 January 2009. The scheme will pay 60 cents per kilowatt hour for all electricity generated by systems of up to 10 kilowatts by residential, small business and community groups.
I note that the Government initially proposed a net feed-in tariff, which would have paid only for additional electricity fed into the grid after household consumption. Why, for so many months, did the Government criticise the Opposition proposal for a gross feed-in tariff, which is what we have in this bill? Why did the Government spend all those months criticising the Opposition when today it has adopted the Opposition's proposal? There should be an acknowledgment from the Government that it has adopted the Coalition's position, which was proposed in March this year, for a gross feed-in tariff. We are delighted the Government has taken up some good policy but it should acknowledge this was an idea from the Opposition. We refute any criticism and wonder why the Government spent so long criticising our policy when today it has said it is a marvellous thing. Certainly, we think it is a start.
Across the world, feed-in tariffs promote more investment in renewable energy, reduce costs through economies of scale and create jobs. There is proof of that from many world economies. I said it is only a start. It is important to look at the processes to get us to this point and to look at how will this bill take us further. Like all announcements from the Rees Labor Government, it is incomplete, because it is only a start. Dr David Mills is an Australian scientist and former Sydney University academic, a world-renowned and well-respected expert on solar technology now based in California. He is convinced that solar technology is capable of large-scale electricity generation in Australia. He told the Sydney Morning Herald last month that solar energy could eventually supply base load power. That is a transformational thing should this technology be proven, but that is his considered opinion. He also told the news site Carbon and Environment Daily last month:
A vibrant solar industry could be the salvation of the Australian economy This is the future Australia could have, but governments will have to embrace that future and stop clinging to the past.
That is the challenge for the Government. It has started along this trek but where are we going? The people of New South Wales want to see that broader vision, and there is much more the Government could be doing right now to look at the potential for solar and put New South Wales at the heart of some of those developments. So, I provide some ideas. We regularly hear criticism from the Government about what sort of policy comes from the other side. We are happy in this context to outline a framework that I encourage the Government to pick up and run with.
Mr Richard Amery: We are hanging on every word.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: I am glad you are hanging on every word. I want to make five points. The first thing the Government should do is to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing New South Wales infrastructure to determine optimal localities for utility scale solar facilities. For the benefit of the member for Shellharbour I will give her the details of the review. The review should look at environmental planning and permitted requirements, including flora, fauna, water bodies and indigenous estates. It should look at available infrastructure, including transport—road and rail—population centres to operate and maintain facilities, water, natural gas and existing generation facilities. It should look at electricity transmission and identify transmission access points with capacity for additional generation. In relation to solar resources, the Government should be identifying preferred localities based on currently available data, which is critical, and it also should look at proximity of generation sites to load centres, particularly in regional areas.
The second point in relation to a comprehensive review is solar resource monitoring. That will involve the provision of solar weather monitoring stations at optimal locations to provide a consistent and bankable solar resource dataset for projects. The third point is that the review should also undertake consideration and selection of further incentives for solar energy development that provide an ongoing strategy for continued project development. The fourth point is that the review should ensure that solar energy complements and is part of a broader policy vision.
The Government has made small announcements of gross feed-in tariffs and is trying to promote the benefits. However, there should be a broad vision. Solar energy must complement and be an integral part of the overall vision and objective for energy generation in New South Wales. It must complement other energy developments in coal, gas and broader renewable energy sources, and align with transmission developments to bring remote generation from wind, solar and geothermal sources to major load centres. That is the future. That is the direction in which we need to be going. How does this all fit in? It fits in, but the Government needs to finish the links and enable the community to understand where we are going with energy policy. The fifth point is that there should be support for industry by providing solar infrastructure developments.
The final point I make is that the Government should provide support for technology development to improve performance and efficiency in solar infrastructure development. That will involve research and development activities, energy storage for solar energy, which is critical as technology continues to improve. That is essential. We should support through research and development activities that further such development. Plans also should involve design for integration with other energy generation from wind, gas and geothermal sources.
If the Government is serious about trying to promote a renewable future, it should adopt the framework I have outlined. It should march forward and take the State forward, not only in terms of overall energy policy, but also, while the economy is in transition, towards a renewable energy future. I believe that solar power is integral to the future of New South Wales. It is essential for the Government to adopt the framework I have outlined and link its isolated energy policy to a broader vision.
An opportunity has been presented to the Government to make significant headway. However, the Government has been very silent about its ability to tap into the Federal Solar Flagships Program. The Federal Government has outlined a program that is available for any State Government that has some vision, commitment and will, and which is genuinely committed to making solar energy an integral part of the economy.
The Federal Government has introduced incentives to support the development for solar power stations in Australia. The stated objective is to support thermal, solar and photovoltaic large-scale projects. A solar flagship project will be developed only if the risks of the project are low enough to attract equity and debt funding. Solar projects are being developed around the world. For a New South Wales project to attract funds, it needs to be competitive on a risk and return basis with other solar projects throughout the world, and clearly will need government support. The State Government should pick up incentives from the Federal Solar Flagships Program and work out how to facilitate attraction of equity and debt funding. The State Government also needs to work out how to obtain access to Federal Government funds that are available to support development of solar energy generation.
Western New South Wales is an ideal location for solar energy generation in terms of isolation, energy demand and potential for good connection, and is a good candidate for solar flagship funding. That may be proven by reference to various maps. A number of sites are available in western New South Wales, but in that context we should be pushing the suitability of western New South Wales and working towards implementing a solar flagship project in western New South Wales. If the Government wants to maximise opportunity, it should be looking for land that is suitable for solar project development. Obviously, dry desert conditions will work and will be critical to success, but a water source also will be required for cooling. The location should facilitate connection to the grid, or there should be an agreement to provide connection to the group. There should also be a long-term purchase agreement, or at least some form of State Government involvement in a long-term power purchase agreement. That is how the Government will be able to access or tap into some of the funds that are available under the Federal Solar Flagships Program.
If the Government is serious about solar energy development, it will take up funding and create conditions to ensure that New South Wales is proactive in relation to climate change. The Government's solar policy is merely about creating the impression that it is serious about climate change, but the truth is that solar policy can be much more than that. This is a transformational opportunity to take this State from the ho-hum approach currently adopted by the Government to an attitude of participating in a vibrant future.
[Interruption]
ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Thomas George): Order! The Minister for Commerce will direct her comments through the Chair.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: I know the Minister and member for Newcastle is a strong supporter of solar energy, so I am sure she will support the concept I have outlined. That is what we need. We need a Government that is committed to not making small announcements that try to give an impression. The Government should focus less on trying to give the impression it is doing something and more on actually doing it. This legislation provides the Government with an opportunity to make a statement to the New South Wales community that the Government is not just trying to pursue small short-term political wins, but is trying to transform the State and ensure that the future of renewable energy is central to the State's economy as well as take us forward for the next 40 years, not just to the next election.
In conclusion, I reiterate that I support the measures outlined in the bill to boost current and future use of solar energy in New South Wales, but it is a very small start. There are concerns and questions about tenure, such as why we have chosen seven years in relation to the overall context of development. The industry is telling us that tenure should be much longer. There is a suspicion that the Government's approach is tuned solely towards trying to deliver a green credentials argument to the electorate, and I think the Government's approach should be much more serious than that. The Government's legislation does not go far enough. I urge the Rees Government to explore the full potential of solar in New South Wales, embrace its future, and transition the economy of the State to one that embraces renewable energy—or, indeed, has renewable energy at its core.
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