{"id":22343,"date":"2018-06-20T06:43:34","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T20:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=22343"},"modified":"2018-06-20T06:43:34","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T20:13:34","slug":"renewable-energy-nsw-budget-mb0633","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/renewable-energy-nsw-budget-mb0633\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing New For Renewables In NSW State Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/p>\n

The cupboard was bare for solar power and renewable energy overall in NSW Budget 2018-19, but that isn’t likely to hold back the uptake of solar panels in the state.<\/p>\n

Delivered yesterday, the Budget had little in it in relation to energy generally. In his Budget speech<\/a>, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet had this to say:<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re launching a new ‘one-click energy switch’ web site, helping families claim the best energy deals.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

.. and that was about it, aside from a mention of low-income and special needs households saving up to $285 a year with the Government’s existing rebates.<\/p>\n

While the cost of installing solar panels<\/a> in New South Wales (and across Australia) is continuing to decrease, the bill-busting technology is still out of reach for many.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NSW budget doesn\u2019t do anything to help people who rent, live in apartments or are low-income install cost-cutting rooftop solar and make the most of Australia\u2019s abundant sunshine,\u201d said<\/a> Solar Citizens’ Shani Tager. \u201cNSW\u2019s 400,000 solar households and small businesses have sent a clear message with their wallets — they see clean solar power as the way to take back control of their power bills, it\u2019s time for the Berejiklian Government to catch up.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ms. Tager also said the state’s energy system is “ageing, inefficient, polluting” and there was nothing in the Budget to help build the energy system of the future.<\/p>\n

However, there is a fair bit going on in the state with solar farms.\u00a0 Last week<\/a> we mentioned a couple of projects recently starting their EIS exhibition periods and the NSW Planning & Environment website shows significant activity<\/a>; with many solar projects in various stages. Green Energy Markets’ most recent Renewable Energy Index indicated 928MW of large-scale renewables under construction in the ACT & NSW.<\/p>\n

In terms of small-scale solar (<100kW capacity), the latest information from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator indicates 417,475 systems are installed throughout the state.\u00a0In April, there were 4,962 rooftop solar systems<\/a> installed in the ACT and New South Wales.<\/p>\n

The simple payback period<\/a> of a 5kW solar system<\/a> (installed in Sydney<\/a>) is currently around 5.3 years.<\/p>\n

New South Wales Electricity Prices<\/h2>\n

While electricity prices will be dropping for some NSW residential customers from July 1, it won’t be by much at best. Here’s how the Big Three stack up:<\/p>\n