The Victorian Government has launched the second Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) auction, with the tender pack for the auction supporting at least 600 megawatts of energy and expected to deliver $1 billion worth of economic investment in Victoria.
The second auction is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs, help power the entire Victorian Government with clean energy − including every government school and hospital, and run Melbourne’s entire metropolitan train network.
It’s also expected to make a significant contribution to halving the state’s carbon emissions by 2030 and meeting the Government’s ambitious renewable target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
The auction is part of the Government’s plan to drive significant investment in all six Renewable Energy Zones located across Victoria and its $1.6 billion investment in clean energy – the largest investment in clean energy of any state government, ever.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio said, “We are proud to be launching the second VRET auction, a key part of our plan to source 100 per cent renewable electricity for Government operations by 2025.
“Generating new investment in renewable energy will have lasting benefits for Victoria’s economy, making energy delivery across the state more reliable and affordable.”
The tender will close on 8 November 2021, with successful projects expected to be announced in the middle of 2022.
The auction has strong local content requirements, to ensure more of the work generated by the auction is delivered in Victoria, and robust obligations on proponents to share the benefits of their project with the local community.
The auction will also feature strengthened network requirements to ensure projects can be connected quickly and is being delivered with support from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to mitigate grid connection risks.
“We’ve already created more jobs in renewable energy than any other State in Australia − this auction will deliver another boost in clean energy investment and jobs and help us reach our ambitious emissions reduction targets,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
For more information on the auction visit energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/vret2.
To get involved in the bidding process, visit the tenders.vic.gov.au website.
