Previously redacted renewable energy report reveals estimated cost of since-abandoned target

A 2019 report kept secret until recently reveals the former NT Labor government’s costings for renewables in the Territory – a figure almost 20 times smaller than the CLP’s claim.

A previously hidden energy report into renewable energy in the Northern Territory estimated it would cost $263m to reach 50 per cent renewables by 2030 – a figure almost 20 times less than the Country Liberal’s claim.

Last month the CLP government abandoned the Territory’s renewables target, stating it would cost up to $5bn to reach 50 per cent renewable energy by the end of the decade.

The CLP also released a 2019 report commissioned by Labor on “Achieving the Northern Territory Renewable Energy Target”.

The NT News applied for a copy of the report at the time under Freedom of Information laws, however all but the front and back cover of the 118-page document were redacted.

That report by Sydney economists HoustonKemp put a $263m price tag on a “linear pathway” to 50 per cent renewables – comprising $385m in investments offset by $107m in reduced dispatch costs.

A “least cost pathway” to the target was estimated at $260m, while a “business as usual” case would cost $245m and would lead to 19 per cent renewable energy share by 2030.

The report found power prices would increase by approximately $14 per MWh in 2030 to support the investment required – roughly $300 per customer.

NT Energy Minister Gerard Maley. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

In contrast, Energy Minister Gerard Maley said the cost of reaching 50 per cent by 2030 could cost up to $56,000 per Jacana household.

Asked where that estimate came from, Mr Maley said “the department”.

“Five billion dollars, that came from the department. I have to be straight, it is an estimate, because no one really knows,” he said on March 27.

“What we do know is that over the last eight years, Labor government got us to about 20 per cent (renewables) – or just a little bit under – and their unrealistic target of 50 per cent renewables was never going to be met.

“We need to make sure that we supply Territorians with affordable and reliable electricity, and that’s what we intend to do.”

Originally published as Previously redacted renewable energy report reveals estimated cost of since-abandoned target