1 December 2020: Queensland's Clean Energy Spending No Match for Southern States

Community group Solar Citizens today commends the Queensland Government for delivering on their pre-election renewable energy commitments in today’s state budget, but says the Sunshine State has a long way to go to match NSW and Victoria’s clean energy leadership. 

“Allocating $645 million to clean energy and three new Renewable Energy Zones shows that the Queensland Government means business about building a better and more affordable energy future for Queenslanders,” said Ellen Roberts, Solar Citizens National Director. 

“But Queensland’s spending on clean energy falls short compared to the level of ambition we’re seeing from NSW and Victoria. 

“NSW just passed the biggest and most exciting renewable energy plan Australia has seen yet, and Victoria is helping another 42,000 homes get solar to slash their electricity bills.

“Queensland has world-class solar and wind resources. We could be a clean energy leader and power thousands of new jobs in renewable hydrogen production, but the meager $10 million allocated for hydrogen is not going to cut it.”

Solar Citizens says that this budget also misses opportunities to drive down electricity bills for renters and social housing tenants, especially as Queensland is set to suffer through another heatwave.  These comments come as the Australian Energy Regulator's latest report found that thousands of Australian households and small businesses are struggling to pay their power bills through the pandemic.

“The Queensland Government recently ran a successful solar for renters trial that saw participating tenants save $600 per year on average. Now that it’s summer, it’s a no-brainer to expand this trial so all households can afford to stay cool,” said Ms Roberts.

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Solar Citizens welcomes the news today that the Victorian Labor State Government is investing $191 million to help more Victorians benefit from solar. 

Victoria will expand its Solar Homes program to provide solar panel rebates for an additional 42,000 households, and 15,000 rebates for small businesses for the first time. All Victorians will now be able to apply for one of 17,500 household battery rebates. 

“Rooftop solar helps slash power bills, so it’s a no-brainer to help more households and small businesses access solar when so many are doing it tough right now,” said Ellen Roberts, Solar Citizens National Director.

“Providing bill relief for small businesses and investing in the job-rich rooftop solar industry will stimulate much-needed economic growth

“Providing more batteries will also allow more households to get the maximum benefit from their solar systems”

“Plus we know that when more households export their power to the grid, it helps drive down power bills for everyone else - it’s a win win.”

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Media Contact: Ellen Roberts 0408 583 694

Solar Citizens today congratulates the Queensland Labor State Government on their commitment to kick-starting Queensland’s hydrogen industry, but says much more should be done.

“Today’s announcement for a further $10 million to develop Queensland’s hydrogen industry is welcome, but it’s not enough to turn the Sunshine State into a renewable hydrogen powerhouse,” said Solar Citizens’ National Director Ellen Roberts.

“We have incredible solar and wind resources here. We should be the envy of the world by producing cheap and abundant renewable hydrogen for export – powering long-term jobs and a future-proof economy.

“The time for trials is over. Queensland can be a world leader by turbocharging renewable hydrogen investment and co-locating hydrogen producers with industry.

“We’re yet to see any announcements in this space from the LNP opposition, which is even more disappointing. A thriving renewable hydrogen industry is a huge opportunity for regional Queensland and we should be getting on the front foot.” 

For comment call Ellen Roberts on 0408 583 694

22 October 2020: Renewables Plan Backed by Concerned Youth

This morning a collection of community groups and concerned Townsville youth came together to call on all sides of politics to back more renewable energy in the lead up to the state election, following new report findings that the energy transition would create thousands of jobs in the Townsville region.

The report, commissioned by Queensland Conservation Council from Green Energy Markets, found that around 1,400 ongoing jobs in Townsville and nearly 11,000 ongoing jobs across Queensland will be created if the Sunshine State moves to 100% renewable energy. 

If the transition progresses rapidly, 1,100 construction jobs would be maintained every year for ten years building solar, wind and storage projects in the Townsville region.

“The transition is already well underway because solar and wind energy backed by storage is the cheapest form of new-build energy generation and Queensland households are turning to solar in droves to cash in on the solar savings,” said Simon from North Queensland Conservation Council.

“The energy transition is a win-win for Townsville. It means cleaner air, a big boost to the economy and energy generated locally instead of coming up from the south.”

The report found it’s possible to make the transition to clean energy reliably with technologies that exist today, such as pumped hydro, battery storage, bioenergy, solar thermal and renewable hydrogen.

Volunteers from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) are backing the plan for more clean energy jobs and a safe climate future for Townsville’s youth. 

“Townsville needs more good job opportunities for young people. This report shows how we can unlock those opportunities while creating a clean future for all of us,” said Matthew Garbutt from AYCC.

“Many of my friends have moved down south for work, but we can power more local jobs by utilising North Queensland’s incredible solar and wind resources.”

“We want our leaders to put the future of young people before fossil fuels by investing in more publicly-owned clean energy projects.”

Households and businesses across Queensland are continuing to turn to solar as a quick and easy way to reduce their electricity costs, with around 3,000MW already installed across the state. If current trends continue, the experts expect 8,000MW of rooftop solar will be operating in Queensland by 2040, which is almost  three times the capacity of Australia’s largest coal-fired generator. 

According to the groups, an abundance of cheap solar and wind energy will create further ongoing job opportunities in renewable manufacturing.

“Already there’s a battery storage manufacturing plant proposed for Townsville that would create 1,150 ongoing jobs. But this project could just be the tip of the iceberg,” said Stephanie Gray from Solar Citizens.

“There’s an emerging global market for minerals made with renewable energy and up here we have all the ingredients to kick-start these new clean energy industries.

“We should be using our abundant solar and wind to power tens of thousands of jobs in ‘green steel’ and renewable hydrogen.”

“It’s time for our politicians to put a plan in place to phase-out old, dirty energy and make the essential transition over to renewable energy,” says Claire Fryer, Campaigner at Queensland Conservation Council.

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Media contact: Stephanie Gray 0425543006

19 October 2020: Solar Recycling Pledge Welcomed

News that the Queensland LNP will open a solar panel recycling facility in South East Queensland was today welcomed by community group Solar Citizens.

“Solar systems across Queensland are providing households with much-needed bill savings while creating cleaner energy, and it’s great to see the LNP planning ahead so this industry can continue to thrive,” said Ellen Roberts, Solar Citizens’ National Director.

“We absolutely need to have a robust recycling industry for when solar and storage reach the end of their lives so that clean technology has as little environmental impact as possible.

“Already Aussie researchers are looking at innovative ways to recycle solar panels, so it’s a smart move to kick-start this industry and capitalise on our clean energy expertise.”

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Media contact: Ellen Roberts 0408583694

Solar Citizens has today welcomed the announcement from the Queensland government that they will fit Queensland hospitals with solar power - which will cut power bills and bring down emissions.

‘Hospitals are big energy users, running medical equipment and providing a cool and clean environment for people who need it most. Solar and batteries will also provide much needed back up power to hospitals during outages.This announcement to fit hospitals with solar is a no-brainer,’ said Solar Citizens National Director Ellen Roberts.

‘We’d like to see solar on all public buildings in Queensland. It will bring down energy costs, and income generated from selling power from the panels can go towards funding schools and hospitals,’ said Ms Roberts.

For comment call Ellen Roberts on 0408 583 694  

Ellen Roberts, National Director of Solar Citizens said, 'Scott Morrison’s pledge of public money for gas fired power for the Hunter Valley will lock the region in to higher power prices.'

'Towns currently dependent on gas generation, like Mount Isa in Western Queensland are now turning to cheap renewable energy to power existing heavy industry. Solar, wind and storage are much cheaper than expensive polluting gas.'

'By pushing gas fired power, Morrison is locking in high power prices for the Hunter Valley - the last thing the region needs.'

'Energy Minister Angus Taylor is trying to pass legislation through Parliament that would force the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to hand out taxpayers funds to dirty polluting gas, even where those projects lose money. '