The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is an enclave completely within the state of New South Wales. Canberra, the capital city of Australia is located here. Solar Power in the Australian Capital Territory is becoming more popular by the day.
With a population of 431,215 the majority of whom all live within Canberra. The Australian Capital Territory is the second smallest mainland territory by population (behind the Northern Territory) however, due to its small size, 2,358 square kilometres, makes ACT the most densely populated state in Australia.
The Australian Capital Territory has 49,408 homes and businesses with solar systems, and 3,253 have added a battery too. To harness the sun’s power to heat their homes, 17,838 have installed a solar water heater or air source heat pump.
ACT has Zero wind turbines installed to date. (source – Clean Energy Regulator). The Australian PV Institute estimates the percentage of dwellings with a PV system to be 29.3%.
This means there is plenty of opportunity for the uptake of PV solar systems within the Australian Capital Territory, couple this with their cooler climates, and it’s a total win-win for renewable energy. The number of solar systems installed grows each day, as more households realise the benefits that such a system has on their power bills and the environment.
Don’t let renewable energy savings pass you by any longer, take action today to see what benefits a renewable energy system could have on your bills and the positive impact on the environment.
ATTENTION, ATTENTION!!!!!
Did you know……..Eligible homeowners can borrow up to $15,000 to improve their home’s energy efficiency. By reducing your impact with solar panels, batteries and other products, you might be able to borrow this money for up to 10 years, there is ZERO interest, and NO upfront costs or fees!
This is called the Sustainable Household Scheme and the loan can help cover the costs of… (source – ACT Government – everyday climate choices)
- Rooftop solar panels
- Household battery storage systems
- Hot water heats pumps
- Electric stove tops
- Electric vehicles (cars)
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Ceiling insulation
- Installation costs for these products.
Australian Capital Territory
Electricity Grid
The Australian Capital Territory is part of the National Electricity Market (NEM) and they have Transgrid as their high voltage transmission network service provider. Transgrid is owned via the NSW Electricity Networks consortium.
You sign up with a choice of retailers, either on a standard or market retail contract. To find an energy plan that meets your needs, Energy Made Easy is a great site by the Australian Government and can be accessed here.
Please ensure you shop around to get the best deal, and make sure you consider the Feed-in Tariff (FITS) when looking at your energy provider, when you choose a renewable energy system for your needs, you want to get paid for the excess power your system produces.
Rebates and Incentives
Government Incentive – Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC)
When you install a renewable energy solution, you are entitled to claim Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs) against the cost of the system. An STC is equal to 1 megawatt-hour of renewable electricity, either generated or displaced by eligible small-scale renewable energy systems such as solar PV, wind, hydro, solar water heaters and air source heat pumps.
The STCs are part of the Australian government’s Renewable Energy Target. STCs fluctuate a little in the marketplace and are generally always claimed on the customer’s behalf by the retailer installing your system.
You can claim them yourself via the REC Registry, however, it is much easier to allow your trusted and endorsed installer to claim them on your behalf. At the time of writing this, STCs are trading at $40 each, however, they have been as low as $16 per STC.
To see an up-to-date price please click here. At $40 per STC, this means for a 5kw inverter with 6.6kw of panels one can expect a reduction of $ 3,000.
The Clean Energy Regulator provides a free STC Calculator for you to establish how many STCs your renewable energy solution will generate. If you would like to see what your STC rebate would be with a ‘live’ price right now!
Greenbank Environmental can provide this here.
Feed-in tariffs (FITS)
Within the Australian Capital Territory, you will be eligible for a payment for any electricity you export back to the grid that you do not consume. This is known as a Feed-in Tariff.
This includes all energy you export back to the grid, be it from solar panels, wind turbines, batteries or electric vehicles. See the table below for the FITs available within the ACT.
Electric Vehicles (EVs)
The ACT Government is currently offering generous incentives for people and businesses thinking about buying an EV. If the EV is your first one, you may not have to buy stamp duty, you’ll get 2 years of free ACT vehicle registration and don’t forget you can borrow up to $15,000 on the zero-interest loan as mentioned above.
(source – ACT Government – cars and vehicles)
| Retailer | State | Min Solar FIT | Max Solar FIT | Detailed Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ActewAGL | ACT | 8.0c | 12.0c | System size 10kW max |
| Origin Energy | ACT | 8.0c | 12.0c | Only if buy solar through Origin – 10kW max |
| Energy Australia | ACT | 7.6c | 10.0c | System size 10kW max |
| Energy Locals | ACT | 7.0c | 7.0c | |
| Red Energy | ACT | 6.0c | 6.0c | High FIT in NSW and Queensland is capped at 5kWh per day |
| Radian Energy | ACT | 6.0c | 6.0c | |
| CovaU | ACT | 5.5c | 5.5c | |
| Nectr | ACT | 0.0c | 4.4c | |
| Amber Electric | ACT | 0.0c | 0.0c | |
| ReAmped Energy | ACT | 0.0c | 0.0c |