This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE New South Wales government has unveiled a policy to reduce its energy bills by $55 million per year, install solar panels on buildings and set a new minimum target of 4.5 stars NABERS rating from January 2015.
In announcing the new Government Resource Efficiency Policy, environment minister Rob Stokes the state government currently spends more than $500 million per year on energy, water and waste.
“The NSW government is one of the one of the biggest electricity consumers in the state… Through this policy, NSW government agencies are anticipated to invest around $290 million in energy efficiency and onsite electricity generation projects over the next decade.
“All NSW government departments will undertake energy efficiency projects for 90% of their billed energy use by 2023-24, reducing their energy bills across the NSW government by $55 million a year,” he added.
Stokes said all large office buildings, owned or leased by the government will also be required to achieve and maintain a NABERS Energy rating of at least 4.5 stars, and a NABERS Water rating of at least 4 stars.
There is also a commitment to the renewable energy, by including a requirement for 6% of electricity to come from GreenPower.
From January 2015, all new office buildings and fitouts for the government will be designed and built to a predicted performance of at least 4.5 stars NABERS Energy rating.
For other building types, new facilities with project costs over $10 million should be designed and built so that energy consumption is predicted to be at least 10% lower than if built to minimum compliance with National Construction Code requirements.
All office buildings owned by the NSW government with a net lettable area of over 2,000 sqm will achieve and maintain a NABERS Energy whole building rating of at least 4.5 stars by June 2017.
And where one or more NSW Government agencies occupy a net lettable area of at least 2,000 sqm within a single leased office building, the building will achieve a NABERS Energy base or whole building rating of at least 4.5 stars by June 2017.
Most importantly, Stokes announced that all sites and buildings, either owned or leased by the government, will be assessed for suitability to install solar panels.
“This information will be published by October 2015 to enable the solar industry to make market offers to agencies to install or lease solar systems across their sites,” the minister said.
Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy, Leslie Williams said that the Government Resource Efficiency Policy is a great opportunity for the clean energy industry to do business with the NSW government.
The policy has received a warm welcome from the industry, in particular the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
CEFC yesterday announced it will provide up to $120 million to finance three new programs including leasing and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) to help expand and deepen the solar PV market in Australia.
CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said this set of programs would expand the range of financing structures widely available in Australia so that more businesses can take advantage of the country’s abundant solar resources.
“By expanding the financing options available and introducing new financing models tailored for different market segments, we can help more individual households and businesses to make better use of our resources and save on their energy costs,” he added.
CEFC was recently saved from being scrapped by the federal government.
Yesterday CEFC revealed that after its first full year in operation, it has contracted investments of over $900 million in projects over $3 billion in total value.
Yates said the current portfolio is achieving matched private sector funds of more than $2.20 for each $1 of CEFC investment.
“The CEFC invests for a positive return, with its investments presently expected to earn an average yield of approximately 7% which is more than 3.5% above the government’s cost of funds prevailing when the investment were made.
“Through this portfolio of 40 direct investments and a further 25 projects co-financed under aggregation partnerships, the CEFC is delivering abatement estimated at more than 4.2 million tonnes of CO2e p.a., with a benefit to the taxpayer of around $2.40 per tonne of CO2e abated (net of government cost of borrowing),” he added.
CEFC expects to make further new investment announcements in the coming weeks.
Property Review