Green electricity in Australia is available from a number of utilities that supply electricity from environmentally friendly energy sources that are renewable and non-polluting. In Australia green energy is accredited under the GreenPower scheme whereby all distributors are government audited bi-annually to ensure that customers are getting exactly what is described in their purchased products. The growth and development of the green energy industry was tracked in Australia by the ALTEX-Australia alternative energy index from 2006 to 2011.
In the 2009 settlement period there were 904,716 GreenPower customers Australia-wide, accounting for a total of 2,194,934 MWh of electricity generation, a 10% increase over 2008. This total electricity provision was divided between residential customers who purchased 1,001,195 MWh, and business customers who purchased 1,193,739 MWh. [1] [2] By the 2014 settlement period the number of GreenPower customers Australia-wide was at 497,406, and total purchases accounted for 1,279,281 MWh. [3]
The largest nationwide distributors were EnergyAustralia, Origin Energy, and TRUenergy. As of 2008 these companies offered a residential GreenPower accredited program:
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and the fifth largest by elected representation. The leader of the party is Adam Bandt, with Mehreen Faruqi serving as deputy leader. Larissa Waters and Lidia Thorpe currently hold the respective roles of Senate leader and deputy leader.
The Renewables Obligation (RO) is designed to encourage generation of electricity from eligible renewable sources in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in England and Wales and in a different form in Scotland in April 2002 and in Northern Ireland in April 2005, replacing the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation which operated from 1990.
The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale electricity market. The Australian Energy Market Commission develops and maintains the Australian National Electricity Rules (NER), which have the force of law in the states and territories participating in NEM. The Rules are enforced by the Australian Energy Regulator. The day-to-day management of NEM is performed by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, Renewable Energy Credits, Renewable Electricity Certificates, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are tradable, non-tangible energy certificates in the United States that represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource and was fed into the shared system of power lines which transport energy. Solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs) are RECs that are specifically generated by solar energy.
EnergyAustralia was a state–owned enterprise of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. It was electricity and gas supplier and retailer which primarily supplied the Sydney, Newcastle and Central Coast areas of New South Wales. Since market deregulation, it increased its focus on retail supply opportunities in electricity and gas to the Victorian market and electricity in the deregulated south–east corner of Queensland.
EnergyAustralia is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based and listed China Light and Power. EnergyAustralia also had a portfolio of generating sites using thermal coal, natural gas, hydro-electric, solar energy, and wind power.
Synergy is a corporation owned by the Government of Western Australia. Synergy is Western Australia’s largest energy retailer and generator with more than one million industrial, commercial and residential customers, generating total annual revenue of more than $3.2 billion.
AGL Energy Ltd is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. AGL is Australia's largest electricity generator, and the nation's largest carbon emitter. The company has an operated generation capacity of 10,984 MW. 85% of the company's generation comes from the burning of coal. The company emits 42,227,180 Total Scope 1 Emissions. AGL is also a significant investor, owner, and operator, of renewable energy assets.
Solar power in Australia is a fast growing industry. As of April 2022, Australia's over 3.12 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 26,093 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 4,342 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 9.9% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2020.
The energy policy of Australia is subject to the regulatory and fiscal influence of all three levels of government in Australia, although only the State and Federal levels determine policy for primary industries such as coal. Federal policies for energy in Australia continue to support the coal mining and natural gas industries through subsidies for fossil fuel use and production. Australia is the 10th most coal-dependent country in the world. Coal and natural gas, along with oil-based products, are currently the primary sources of Australian energy usage and the coal industry produces over 30% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018 Australia was the 8th highest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita in the world.
Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar PV, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.
Solar Cities is an innovative A$97 million demonstration programme designed to promote solar power, smart meters, energy conservation and new approaches to electricity pricing to provide a sustainable energy future in urban locations throughout Australia. Adelaide, Alice Springs, Blacktown, Central Victoria and Townsville were nominated to be the first Solar Cities of Australia, in the 2007 election campaign the Labor government committed to expanding the programme to include Coburg and Perth. Solar Cities is an innovative program that aims to show how technology, behavior change, and new approaches to energy pricing can combine to provide a sustainable energy future in urban locations throughout Australia".
Financial incentives for photovoltaics are incentives offered to electricity consumers to install and operate solar-electric generating systems, also known as photovoltaics (PV).
A feed-in tariff is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers. This usually means promising renewable energy producers an above market price, and providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance renewable energy investments. Typically, FITs award different prices to different sources of renewable energy in order to encourage development of one technology over another. For example, technologies such as wind power and solar PV, are awarded a higher price per kWh than tidal power. FITs often include a "degression", a gradual decrease of the price or tariff, in order to follow and encourage technological cost reductions.
The Electricity Commission of New South Wales, sometimes called Elcom, was a statutory authority responsible for electricity generation and its bulk transmission throughout New South Wales, Australia. The Commission was established on 22 May 1950 by the Electricity Commission Act 1950 to take control of power generation in the State. The Commission acquired the power stations and main transmission lines of the four major supply authorities: Southern Electricity Supply, Sydney County Council, the Department of Railways and the Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation Ltd, known as the Balmain Electric Light Company, to acquire the Balmain Power Station. The Commission was responsible for the centralised co-ordination of electricity generation and transmission in the State, and some local councils continued to be distributors of electricity only.
Feed-in tariffs in Australia are the feed-in tariffs (FITs) paid under various State schemes to non-commercial producers of electricity generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) systems using solar panels. They are a way of subsidising and encouraging uptake of renewable energy and in Australia have been enacted at the State level, in conjunction with a federal mandatory renewable energy target.
Solar hot water is water heated using only energy from the Sun. Solar energy heats up large panels called thermal collectors commonly known as solar panels. The energy is transferred through a fluid to a reservoir tank for storage and subsequent use. It is then used to heat water for commercial or domestic use and also as an energy input for heating and cooling devices and for industrial 'process heat' applications. In domestic solar hot water applications, the thermal collectors can either be coupled together with the hot water storage tank on a rooftop, or separated from the storage tank, in a "split system" configuration.
Bullfrog Power, a Spark Power company, is a Canadian green energy retailer operating in Canada. Bullfrog offers green electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and low-impact hydro, as well as green fuel and green natural gas, a renewable biogas product that serves as an alternative to fossil fuel-based natural gas. Bullfrog only sources electricity from generation sources that meet or exceed the federal government's Environmental Choice Program EcoLogo standard for renewable electricity. Bullfrog's green natural gas product is produced at facilities that have met environmental standards as defined by ICF International.
Energy in Australia is the production in Australia of energy and electricity, for consumption or export. Energy policy of Australia describes the politics of Australia as it relates to energy.
The electricity sector in Australia was historically dominated by coal-fired power stations, but renewables are forming a rapidly growing fraction of supply.
