AGL Energy to raise FITs by 77% to 140% in Australia

It said the revised retail feed-in tariff (FIT) rates will help to soften the impact of rising energy prices in some Australian states and save money for households that have installed solar modules. AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy all recently revealed that retail electricity and gas prices will rise sharply from the beginning of July.

“We estimate the increases in feed-in tariffs could be worth up to A$3,321 ($2,512) per year in extra savings for some customers, depending on which state they live in and the amount of solar energy they generate and export to the grid,” said Sandra de Castro, general manager of sales and marketing for AGL.

FiT rates for residential customers in Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia will increase by between 77% and 140%. New tariffs will range from A$0.11 cents to $A0.16 per kWh, up from between A$0.05 and A$0.07. The revised rates are set to go into effect from July 1 July.

AGL is introducing the new rates in response to increases in wholesale market prices and higher residential electricity costs, particularly in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. The FIT in New South Wales will jump 82% to A$0.11/kWh and by 77% to nearly A$0.11/kWh in Queensland. However, rates will jump the most in South Australia — up 140% to A$0.16/kWh — and in Victoria, up 126% to A$0.11/kWh. The increase in Victoria is in line with requirements set by the Essential Services Commission, which is the state’s economic regulator.

In 2015, AGL completed a 53 MW solar array in Broken Hill, New South Wales. It also owns a 102 MW project in the state, near the town of Nyngan. And in March of this year, the company switched on a “virtual power plant” near Adelaide. With that project, it now centrally controls about 7 MWh of aggregated residential battery capacity backed by solar.