On Monday last week, an earlier iteration of controversial regulations issued to ARENA – that sought to redirect its funding to non-renewable energy technologies were cancelled out by the federal senate.
The cancellation occurred after a senate oversight committee deemed the regulations to be unlawful, and inconsistent with ARENA’s legislated aims to only fund renewable energy technologies.
However, before the end of the week, federal energy minister Angus Taylor had issued a replacement set of regulations that again sought to have ARENA’s funding redirected to the government’s preferred technologies, including carbon capture and storage and fossil hydrogen production.
The new regulations tie the types of technologies that ARENA may fund to a definition of “clean energy technologies” included within legislation establishing a separate agency, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
The regulations create an unusual situation where one body, the board of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, is able to define which “low emissions technologies” ARENA will be able to fund.
An explanatory statement included with the latest set of regulations stated that the Morrison government intends to ensure ARENA could fund non-renewable energy technologies.
“The Regulations provides ARENA with the necessary authority to deliver any non-renewable elements of the programs, supporting emissions reductions through broader clean energy technologies such as energy efficiency and non?renewable low-emission technologies,” the explanatory statement said.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is, however, explicitly prohibited from investing in nuclear projects and carbon capture and storage projects under its legislation.
More details: “No prohibitions”: Renewables funds can be spent on fossil hydrogen and CCS, officials say
