The competitive reverse auction is expected to attract companies which will submit tenders for the auction and it is expected to create several jobs while driving the electricity prices down. The renewable projects are expected to include both solar and wind power.
Victorian government will support the tender scheme by offering 15 year supporting agreements. It also stated that those companies with an existing planning permit to build a renewable energy facility can now participate in the bidding process.
These long-term contracts are expects to generate investment certainty to build new energy generation projects and reduce the wholesale price of electricity.
The Australian state expects drive an investment of $1.3bn in terms of new capital expenditure, while creating up to 1250 construction jobs and 90 permanent jobs. Most of the jobs will be created in Victoria, where locals can benefit from the jobs.
The auction has been designed to bring forward projects that achieve the highest standards of community engagement, benefit local economies and represent value for money.
This renewable energy auction is one of the early ones through which Victoria expects to generate 25% of the state’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 and to increase the same to 40% by 2025.
In October, the state released a discussion paper on converting waste to energy and to support the development of anaerobic digestion and thermal treatment of waste. Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio had announced five grants from the $2.38 million Waste to Energy Infrastructure Fund.
These grants are expected to help businesses and water corporations upgrade their waste management practices and to support the project in delivering 1MW of annual renewable energy capacity.
