AGL lauds changes on RET
AGL Energy Limited said on Thursday that it would fast track its Macarthur wind farm project after the Senate approved changes on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme last Wednesday.
The company said that the Senate initiative should pave the way for better investment certainty on the renewable industry as it noted that RET was engineered to ascertain that Australia would draw 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
According to the approved changes, the RET scheme would be divided into two divisions that would eventually spawn two markets - one for large-scale industries and the other one for small-scale consumer technology which includes solar photovoltaic.
AGL managing director Michael Fraser said that the changes introduced by the government provided a blanket of assured long-term investment for the industry and accelerate business decisions to convert the country's existing energy infrastructure and meet the goal of sourcing 20 percent of Australia's electricity from renewable sources come 2020.
Mr Fraser added that AGL and its joint venture partner, Meridian Energy, are further motivated "to fast track the final approvals for the development of the Macarthur wind farm which, when completed, will be one of the largest wind farms in the southern hemisphere."