Horizon Power :: State Renewable Energy Policy

In 1999, the Western Australian Minister for Energy announced a Green Power Policy aimed at promoting the availability of electricity from renewable energy sources in Western Australia. The Policy is largely built around Synergy's NaturalPower product, but also provided for the establishment of an access regime for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to sell renewable electricity direct to customers.

A renewable Independent Power Producer is able to sell "green" electricity to any consumer with an annual consumption of 300,000kWh (34kWh average daily load) or greater.

The Policy also established a Sustainable Energy Development Fund (SEDF) aimed at assisting "green" IPPs. Government allocation to the SEDF (capped at $1 million per year for three years) is linked to the value of renewable energy premiums paid to Synergy by its NaturalPower customers.

In September 2005, the Minister for the Environment commissioned a Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce to advise the State Government on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the WA energy sector. The report was released in December 2006 with 14 recommendations. On 5 February 2007, in line with a recommendation in this report, the WA Premier announced that the State Government will purchase 20% of its electricity from Renewable Sources by the year 2020.