Australia PM under fire for order to stop wind, solar investments

The letter reportedly referred to household and small-scale solar as among the “mature and established clean energy technologies” that should be excluded from the corporation’s activities, along with wind technology.

A SECOND climate-related agency has has been issued new instructions by the Abbott government.

Can the government tell its clean energy finance body what to invest in?

Most households receive publicly backed rebates to install these systems, but CEFC has made it its priority to help low-income families, renters, small businesses, and community groups to invest in solar.

“These are the households that benefit from being able to reduce their electricity bills, but they don’t have the capital to invest it it (solar power)”, Mr Swann said.

Mr Butler said the Federal Government’s directive was making it “impossible” for the CEFC to do its job.

“This is already happening in California and has been incredibly unsuccessful, as well as some Australian local councils on a small scale”.

On Saturday – after a week in which they introduced a sneaky and universally abhorred coal mine – Fairfax revealed they ordered the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in wind power.

Shadow environment spokesman Mark Butler said: “These proposed changes go well beyond Tony Abbott’s opposition to the aesthetic values of wind farms – it’s a wholesale attack on renewable energy”.

The PM says money is better spent on emerging technologies.

“We all know Mr Abbott doesn’t like wind farms”. Labor believes the government is setting up the corporation for collapse, after twice failing to abolish it in the parliament. “Our policy is to abolish the CEFC but in the meantime it should focus on solar and emerging technologies as was originally intended”.

First, it changed the corporation’s investment mandate so that it must now achieve a rate of return (before expenses) of at least 400 to 500 basis points above the five-year government bond rate (currently 2.17 per cent).

Cuban officials did not identify the country of origin of the investors in the wind farms, but Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Mario Giro said last week that the island’s government was evaluating several energy projects, including the construction of three wind farms, with Italian companies.

Now that solar and wind are cost competitive with fossil fuels in many markets, the market barriers hinge on their ability to attract investment and their inability to deliver power consistently, Gagné said.

“Visually unappealing”: Mr Abbott’s views on how wind towers look.

“Other countries make these airy-fairy promises that never come to anything”, Abbott said, complaining that Australia did not get the credit it deserves.

But investment in the sector froze after the government said a year ago it wanted to cut Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET).

“I certainly think it makes Australia very unattractive”, he told the ABC.

The CEFC has a $100 million co-financing arrangement with Commonwealth Bank to provide loans designed for local councils and not-for-profit organisations such as schools, hospitals and sporting organisations.

The Victorian Government has a number of schemes through Sustainability Victoria, and now wishes to establish a renewable energy target for the state, which is not possible under current Federal legislation.