A report released Wednesday by carbon analysts RepuTex estimates savings of $2.5 billion for Australian polluters with the two new policies regarding the carbon tax announced last week by the Gillard government.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet announced last week the scrapping of the $15 per tonne floor price for carbon permits and linking Australia's carbon trading system with the European Emissions Trading System beginning 2015.

The report said the savings between 2015 and 2020 are based on projections that the EU carbon price would be below the $15 floor price. RepuTex estimates the carbon units will trade at an average of $11.50 per tonne during the five-year period, which means a 16 per cent savings for Aussie firms.

The savings would be spread to power generators ($1.5 billion), coal miners ($560 million) and non-coal energy producers ($230 million).

While Aussie firms could already buy EU allowances now and use them in the future, RepuTex said the local companies need not rush since EU carbon prices are expected to remain low for the medium-term.

When the link with the EU carbon trading firm would start in 2015, RepuTex estimates that Australian companies would source 22 per cent of their total carbon liability from the international market but the percentage would go up toward the end of the decade, said RepuTex Associate Director of Research Paul Bourke.

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