Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP today released the Australian Electricity Generation Technology Costs – Reference Case 2010 report in Canberra at the Australian launch of the International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2010 with IEA Executive Director, Mr Nobuo Tanaka.
The Reference Case 2010 was commissioned by the Australian Government as part of the Energy White Paper process and identifies estimated costs of different Australian electricity generation technologies to 2030.
The analysis was undertaken by the US-based Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
The work shows that mature, higher emission technologies are at the low end of the cost range in early years, with the costs for less mature low emission and renewable technologies becoming more competitive over time.
“This is a further important piece of work undertaken as part of the Government's Energy White Paper process,” Minister Ferguson said.
“The report provides a commonly agreed reference set of cost and performance data for a range of globally available and emerging electricity generation technologies that can be used when modelling the Australian stationary energy sector.
“The speed of change in the global energy sector is unprecedented. The sector is currently faced with the dual challenges of transitioning to a low emission economy while maintaining energy security.
“This report and subsequent updates to it will improve transparency and understanding surrounding technology costs.”
The Reference Case 2010 is the third report published in a series of technical reports commissioned as part of the Government's Energy White Paper process. It builds on the two reports already released:
- The Australian Energy Resource Assessment (AERA), that was released on 1 March 2010; and
- The Report of the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency, that was released on 8 October 2010.
It is the Government’s intention that the technology cost estimates as part of this report will be regularly updated and released to ensure the public remains well informed. It is intended that the next update will be in 2011. The report is available at www.ret.gov.au.