The Government welcomes the passage of the Bills to establish the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through the House of Representatives today.
“ARENA is an important part of the Government’s Clean Energy Future package and will consolidate $3.2 billion in support for renewable energy,” said the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP
“The creation of ARENA is designed to bring together a number of important bodies, such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute, into a single agency so that we can consolidate our efforts in making breakthroughs in renewable energy.
“I welcome the bipartisan support for these Bills, reflecting the fact that the Government is pursuing sensible public policy as we seek to reduce the costs of deploying renewable energy.
“In seeking to increase the deployment of renewable energy we must focus our efforts to overcome the significant challenges in reducing the costs of renewable energy technologies, and ARENA will help achieve this.
“The Coalition’s support for this key policy will provide industry with the certainty they are seeking with respect to ongoing Government support for renewables into the future.
“In the interests of providing policy certainty for investors in the broader energy sector, the Coalition should also extend their spirit of bipartisanship to supporting other key elements of the Clean Energy Future legislative package that are currently before the Parliament.”
Through its research, development and demonstration projects, ARENA will complement the 20 per cent by 2020 expanded bipartisan Renewable Energy Target, and the deployment of renewable energy will be further encouraged by a price on carbon and other Government policy measures.
ARENA will be established from 1 July 2012 and will administer existing projects and programs, as well as $1.7 billion in funding that is currently unallocated.
ARENA will consist of an independent Board and CEO – appointed by the Government on merit – with staff from the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism supporting their work.