ACT solar auction, off-grid paper mill win top awards

Canberra’s hugely successful solar auction and an off-grid, cogeneration-powered paper mill have both received top honours at this year’s Banksia Sustainability Awards, one of the most important environmental award ceremonies in Australia.

The ACT’s game-changing solar auction, launched by the Capital Territory government in 2012, was selected by the Banksia Foundation as the overall Gold Award winner for 2014, for its success in stimulating investment in large-scale projects at the lowest possible cost.

As has been noted before on RenewEconomy, the ACT has long been the shining light of Australian large-scale solar – and indeed all renewables – due to its innovative incentive schemes and and forward-thinking policy, against a backdrop of federal and state policies either being wound back or stuck in limbo.

In late August it officially opened the 20MW Royalla solar farm – the largest in Australia and, extraordinarily, the first in the National Electricity Market – and has another 20MW of solar farms about to be built.

The Capital also has plans for an auction for 50MW of advanced solar projects, which essentially means projects that include storage.

Unsurprisingly, the huge success of  its solar auction scheme – the first round of bidding attracted 10 proposals; the second round 15 – also won the Local Government Sustainability category of the Banksia Awards, in which it was first entered.

“(To) be announced as the overall winner of the 2014 Gold Award was beyond our expectations,” said ACT environment minister Simon Corbell.

“It is national recognition of the renewable energy policies of the ACT Government, and is testament to the expertise and hard work of the team in the Environment and Planning Directorate”

The ACT has also recently held an equally successful wind energy auction, which began with the aim of auctioning 200MW of wind power capacity, and in September, closed with 18 proposals totalling more than 1,000MW.

“The success of the solar and wind auctions has got the ACT well on the way to achieving our target of 90% renewable energy by 2020,” Corbell said.

Another notable winner at the Banksia Awards in Sydney was South Australian manufacturer Kimberley-Clark, which won this year’s Environment Minister’s Award for a Cleaner Environment.

The award recognised the paper products manufacturer for creating a sustainable regional community around its Millicent Mill facility and for outstanding results in striving for a cleaner environment.

Kimberley-Clark spent $33 million on installing a cogeneration plant at the Mill, which took the plant off-grid and greatly reduced its carbon emissions.

The company has also managed to cut its waste water discharge by 25 mega litres a day over the last four years, from 35 mega litres to approximately10 mega litres a day, as well as ensuring that it meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.