Repower's Nauen defends Australian renewables targets

Nauen believes Australia's Renewable Energy Target (RET), which is currently under review, should be left unchanged. The Australian wind market has been flat for more than 12 months due to an oversupply of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which must be purchased by liable entities to demonstrate compliance with the RET.

The oversupply was caused by a design fault, which was addressed in early 2011 with the creation of the Large-Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) of 41,000 GWh. Now some utilities want the LRET altered to reflect demand rather than a fixed target.

Last year, Repower's owner Suzlon merged the two companies Australian operations under the Repower brand. Ahead of a visit to the country, Repower Australia published comments by Nauen defending the target. "Around the world, Governments are responding to the challenge of investing in clean energy infrastructure," he said. "While in some situations there is a need for Governments to develop and implement new policy to drive change, Government leadership can also mean defending the effective operation of good policies, particularly when these policies are under attack."

He also said: "Australia is well positioned to make the transition to a clean energy future. It has some outstanding renewable resources that can help transform the way electricity is produced here."

Nauen notes that the transition to a clean energy future is a global challenge that Australia has helped to lead. "The Australian Renewable Energy Target was one of the first large scale drivers for renewable energy investment in the world. It has delivered over A$18 billion of investment in clean energy since it was introduced, and has been used as a model for other schemes around the world."