Update October 2018:
Please note that this blog post is outdated and that you can find a new version for local governments here.

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.