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PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POST WAS UPDATED IN SEPTEMBER 2020. PLEASE GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR THE UPDATED VERSION:
Ambitious climate action commitments by states, local governments and communities – Sep 2020
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We have been tracking ambitious sustainability commitments made by local governments since we developed the Renewable Energy Master Plan for Lismore City Council in 2014. In May 2017, we had enough material to publish our first blog post on the energy and carbon commitments of states, territories and local governments. Over the course of just one year, many new commitments have been made which reflect the increased expectation in the community that governments take action on climate change and move to a clean energy future.
With all these new commitments we thought it was time to publish the updates in a blog post. Below are three tables that showcase the commitments of states and territories, followed by capital cities, and local governments.
States’ and territories’ commitments
States and territories are committing to both renewable energy as well as carbon reduction targets.
State or territory | Commitments |
---|---|
Australia | 20% from renewable energy sources by 2020 26-28% emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030 |
ACT | 100% renewable electricity by 2020 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on 1990 levels by 2020 Zero net emissions by 2050 |
NSW | 20% from renewable energy in line with the RET Zero net emissions by 2050 |
NT | 50% renewable energy by 2030 |
SA | 50% renewable energy by 2025 (75% by 2025 now proposed by SA Govt) Zero net emissions by 2050 |
QLD | 50% renewable energy by 2030 Zero net emissions by 2050 |
VIC | 40% renewable energy by 2025 Zero net emissions by 2050 |
TAS | 100% renewable energy by 2022 Commitment to establish a zero net emissions target by 2050 |
Capital cities’ commitments
Australian capital cities have mostly committed to carbon reduction goals, with many of them targeting or having already achieved carbon neutral/net zero emissions status.
Capital City | Commitment |
---|---|
ACT Government | Carbon neutral by 2020 |
City of Adelaide | Zero net emissions from council operations by 2020 First carbon neutral town by 2050 |
Brisbane City Council | Carbon neutral council from 2017 |
Melbourne City Council | Carbon neutral council by 2020 |
City of Perth | Reduce council emissions by 20% by 2020 Facilitate a 32% reduction in citywide emissions by 2031 |
City of Sydney | Reduce emissions by 70% for the LGA by 2030 50% renewable energy for the LGA by 2030 Net zero emissions for the LGA by 2050 |
Local governments’ and LGAs’ commitments
This table showcases ambitious carbon and energy commitments by local governments and their communities. While there are many more councils with carbon reduction and renewable energy commitments, this table focuses on the ones that have committed to going all the way – to 100% renewable energy, or zero net emissions.
Council or Local Government Area | Commitment |
---|---|
Byron Shire Council | 100% renewable energy by 2027 Net zero emissions by 2025 |
Byron Bay community | Plan for first zero net emissions community |
City of Greater Bendigo | 100% renewable energy by 2036 |
Coffs Harbour City Council | 100% renewable energy by 2030 |
Eurobodalla Shire Council | 100% renewable energy by 2030 |
City of Fremantle | Operations carbon neutral by 2020 100% renewable energy by 2025 Zero carbon for LGA by 2025 |
Gold Coast City Council | Carbon neutral by 2020 |
City of Greater Geelong | Zero carbon council by 2050 |
Lismore City Council | Self-generate all electricity needs from renewable sources by 2023 |
Mullumbimby | 100% renewable energy by 2020 |
Newstead Village | 100% renewable energy by 2017 |
City of Parramatta | Carbon neutral by 2022 with 60% emissions reduction by 2038 based on 2015 levels |
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council | 100% renewable energy by 2027 |
City of Port Phillip | Zero net emissions by 2020 |
Tweed Shire Council | 100% renewable energy |
Tyalgum Village | Off the grid, 100% renewable energy, with batteries |
Uralla Town | Plan to be first zero net energy town |
Yackandandah Town | 100% renewable energy by 2022 |
To meet ambitious renewable energy commitments, councils have two options. They can either build mid-scale plants to meet their operational energy needs, or they can go to market to purchase offsite renewables. The following two sections showcase a few examples for each option.
Local governments with mid-scale developments
In this section, we want to capture where local governments look at mid-scale (also customer-scale) developments. These are renewable energy installations that typically range from 0.5MW to 15MW in size. The energy output from these plants is meant to cover all or part of the operational energy needs of a council but could be oversized to also cover the power needs of the community.
In July 2017, the Sunshine Coast Council became the first local government in Australia to offset its entire electricity consumption from its Valdora solar farm. The council estimates that over the 30 years lifetime of the project, it will save $22m compared to grid electricity costs.
2017 saw the start of mid-scale developments by councils, but this market has big potential going forward. Electricity prices are volatile, while the price for renewables has fallen sharply, and the price for LGCs (Large-Scale Generation Certificates) remains high. Several councils are currently developing or considering implementing a mid-scale plant before 2020 to make sure they can sell LGCs into the market.
Project developer | Mid-scale and similar noteworthy developments |
---|---|
Sunshine Coast Council | Valdora solar farm, 15 MW, commissioned in 2017 |
Newcastle Council | 5 MW Summerhill solar farm on capped landfill site, currently being constructed |
City of Fremantle | 4.9 MW solar farm on former South Fremantle landfill site, currently going through Development Application process |
ACT | As part of its 100% renewable energy commitment, the ACT has facilitated the construction of three solar PV farms within the ACT, including Royalla (20 MW), Mt Majura (2.3 MW) and Mugga Lane (13 MW) via its reverse auction process. |
Local governments purchasing renewable energy
We are introducing a new category in this blog post, which is the purchasing of renewable energy from offsite projects. There are many ways how renewable energy can be procured, for example by purchasing GreenPower from a provider, purchasing LGCs in the spot market, or by entering into a corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In this section, we will focus on PPAs. Renewable energy purchasing via PPAs can be a cost-effective way to deliver on commitments to reduce carbon emissions, achieve zero net emissions, or meet renewable energy targets.
In 2016/17, it was mostly corporations like Telstra or Sun Metals that entered into Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with project developers. However, recently, the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project marked the first time in Australia that a group of local governments (City of Melbourne, Moreland City Council, City of Yarra, City of Port Phillip), universities and corporations collectively purchased renewable energy from a newly built wind farm.
The recent RFP by the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) is another example of where a buying group has gone out to market to procure offsite renewables. One of the prerequisites for a successful tendering process was to proceed if the achieved PPA price was cheaper than the grid.
Local government offtaker | Offsite Power Purchase Agreement |
---|---|
Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils | Bundled offtake agreement (electricity and LGCs) Will only proceed if cheaper than grid |
Melbourne Renewable Energy Project – buyers group | Contract structure accommodates both bundles offtake agreements, as well as LGC-only |
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog. You can also contact us for a copy of the commitment graphics – they are available as standalone JPGs for each government level.