The Australian Government has announced the Clean Energy Initiative (CEI) in its 2009 Budget. The CEI is intended to complement the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and Renewable Energy Target, initiatives announced to support an emissions trading scheme, by supporting the research, development and demonstration of low-emission energy technologies, including industrial scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) and solar energy.
The CEI has three components:
- CCS Flagships Program: funding to support construction and demonstration of large-scale integrated carbon capture and storage projects in Australia, which may include gasification, post-combustion capture, oxy-firing, transport and storage technologies. The target is to create 1000MW of low emission fossil fuel generation.
- Solar Flagships Program: funding to support construction and demonstration of large-scale solar power stations in Australia, which may include solar thermal, photovoltaic and energy storage technologies. The target size is 1000MW of electricity generation.
- Renewables Australia: funding to establish a new body, Renewables Australia (RA), which will promote the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable technologies, through a commercial investment approach.
The development and demonstration of industrial-scale CCS and solar power stations, the Government argues, will accelerate the commercialisation of these critical technologies, and underpin the transition to a low-emission energy economy.
The funding for the CEI announced in the Budget is as follows:
- CCS Flagships: $2.425 billion over 9 years ($2.0 billion new; $0.425 billion existing)
- Solar Flagships: $1.6 billion over 6 years ($1.365 billion new; $0.235 billion existing)
- Renewables Australia: $465 million ($100 million new; $365 million existing)
For more information go to www.ret.gov.au
