The Solar Sunshot program will be run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and deliver grants and production credits. Those credits are then typically cashed in by manufacturers via tax breaks.
It follows the United States’ gargantuan Inflation Reduction Act, which some analysts believe could deliver up to $US1 trillion ($1.56 trillion) in production credits. The scheme has been described as a “global capital vortex” sucking up green investment – and Australia’s renewables industry has urged the government to open a similar scheme in the May budget.
One in three Australian households already have rooftop panels.Credit: Bloomberg
“We can also invest in strategic manufacturing capability, particularly in components critical to the energy and economic transition, like solar panels,” Albanese said.
The government says its climate ambitions will boost traditional industrial centres such as Portland and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, or Wollongong and the Hunter region in NSW.
It argues that the construction of wind and solar farms, as well as transmission lines, will create jobs for coal plant workers.
Workers in traditional, high-emissions steel mills and smelters will be needed to make green hydrogen and clean steel.
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“I want a future made in Australia. And I want a future made in our regions. Places like the Hunter that have powered our nation for more than a century will power our future,” Albanese said.
The government introduced legislation to parliament on Wednesday to establish the Net Zero Economy Authority, which is charged with developing a plan to decarbonise the economy.
The Albanese government has committed to boosting renewable energy to 82 per cent of the electricity grid by 2030, which would slash pollution from coal plants and deliver the bulk of cuts needed to meet its target to lower emissions 43 per cent by 2030.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said about 60 million 500-watt panels must be installed by the end of the decade to achieve the government’s climate target.
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