Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is generally electricity produced from renewable sources such as wind, sunlight, water (hydro electricity), biogas and geo thermal energy.
South Australia, is well placed to utilise renewable energy because it has very good wind resources, lots of sunlight and the possibility of "tapping into" geo thermal energy particularly in the north of the state.
There are a number of ways consumers can participate in renewable energy schemes. Some of the ways are:
Feed in Scheme
Consumers may be interested in installing devices such as photovoltaic cells at their homes in order to generate electricity to meet at least part of their needs and possibly to export surplus power at certain times to the electricity network. Such devices come under the heading of small embedded generating units.
PV Cells which export excess to the grid may be eligible for -feed-in tariff. More information is available at www.climatechange.sa.gov.au.
From 27 January 2012, residential and small business customers who have an eligible solar photovoltaic(PV) unit (solar customers) will be entitled to receive from their electricity retailer a new Feed‐in Tariff Premium (FiT Premium) for electricity fed into ETSA Utilities’ distribution network. The FiT Premium which is credited on solar customers’ electricity bills when they generate more electricity than they use, reflects the fair and reasonable value of fed‐in electricity to electricity retailers.
In accordance with the South Australian Government’s feed‐in legislation, the Commission has determined the minimum FiT Premium to apply from 27 January 2012 until 30 June 2014.
For more information, refer to the 2012 Solar Feed-in Tariff Rebate Fact Sheet.
Small Generation Connection Equipment
Small embedded generators are defined as generators generally connected to a distribution network that comply with the requirements of AS 4777, for example:
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an inverter-connected generator 10 kVA or less for a single phase connection and
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not greater than 30 kVA for a three phase connection.
Since these generators are generally connected to ETSA Utilities' distribution network, it is critical that certain requirements are met in respect of the connection arrangements.
Additional information is also available from the following websites:
Green Power
Green energy products offered by electricity retailers are accredited by the National Green Power Accreditation program for renewable energy. Renewable energy is generated from sources such as wind, hydro & bio mass which produce no greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information www.greenpower.gov.au
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