The ACT government’s early move to 100 per cent renewables is proving a masterstroke, shielding residents from fossil-fuelled electricity price hikes.
Quarterly data shows the policy’s additional cost was just $3/MWh in the June quarter.
Three contracted wind farms paid the ACT $4.4 million because their contract prices were far below wholesale electricity prices.
The Goyder South wind farm in South Australia led the pack, returning $50/MWh and $2.9 million to the ACT in one quarter.
Berrybank in Victoria and Sapphire in NSW also delivered returns, highlighting the success of the ACT’s contracts for difference (CfD) model.
Under the CfD system, wind farms pay back profits when market prices exceed contract rates, and the ACT tops up when prices fall.
The ACT chose to extinguish renewable certificates from its projects to ensure its effort was “additional” to national targets, not a substitute.
The scheme kept Australia’s renewables industry alive when the Abbott government sought to cut the national renewable energy target.
Despite early high-cost solar contracts, falling wind prices turned the program into a long-term winner, with recent contracts as low as $45/MWh.
Now, with construction costs surging and other states struggling to catch up, the ACT’s foresight stands as a model for stable, affordable clean energy.