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Victoria announce 650 MW reverse auction and Queensland launch “Renewables 400”

Earlier today the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced the introduction of legislation for Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET); the largest renewable energy auction in Australia. The ministers also announced the award of contracts for two large scale solar plants to supply energy to Melbourne’s tram network.

Daniel Andrews announced that the Victorian Government would conduct a reverse auction for 650 MW of renewable capacity. Details of when the auction would be taking place were not provided. This move by the Victorian Premier will help towards achieving the states renewable energy target of 25% by 2020 and 40% by 2025.

Earlier this week the Palaszczuk Government launched the Renewables 400 program; a reverse auction for 400 MW capacity. The program invites parties to participate in a reverse auction for wind, solar and storage capacity. As part of the project up to 100 MW will be allocated specifically to storage capacity. An Expression Of Interest (EOI) will commence in late August 2017. The aim of the project is to:

• Diversify the sources of Queensland’s electricity generation
• Support system security and reliability
• Accelerate the deployment of energy storage in Queensland
• Support local business and employment

As was the case in Victoria, this project will move Queensland closer towards achieving its target of 50% renewable energy by 2030.