Premium Feed-In Tariffs

On the 1st November 2009, the Victorian Government introduced the Premium Feed-in Tariff (PFIT) for Victorian customers with net metered Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power systems, offering a premium rate for any electricity fed back in to the power grid.

Households, community groups and small businesses with Solar PV systems up to 5 kilowatt in capacity and consuming less than 100 megawatt hours a year, will receive $0.60 cents per kWh hour for any electricity fed back in to the power grid. For more information regarding your PFIT rates, please contact your retailer, however the Jemena Electricity Network (JEN) tariff will include a Peak and Off Peak periods and can be located here.

What is the PFIT pass through cost and who pays for it

In addition to the PFIT rebate payment made to qualifying customers, the administration of the PFIT scheme will cause JEN to incur additional costs, namely system setup costs and administration costs. The Australian Energy Regulator has determined the PFIT rebate payments and the administration of the PFIT scheme costs to be treated as pass through costs. As a result JEN recovers these costs from all its customers through its approved annual network tariffs applied to customers network bills. The value of the PFIT pass through cost in 2010 (this is the first year the PFIT pass through cost recovery occurs), is in the range 0.022 - 0.024 cents per kWh, depending on the network tariff assigned to the customer and the electricity consumption time period. Full details of the PFIT pass through rates, JEN applies to each tariff, be it in 2010 or beyond are listed in its relevant Tariff Report which can be accessed from the following website by clicking here.

Eligibility Criteria

All electricity retailers with more than 5,000 customers must offer a Premium Feed-in Tariff for net metered Solar PV to their customers.

For customers to be eligible, they must meet the following criteria;

• Be a household, community organisation or small business;
• Have a Solar PV system no greater than five kilowatts in size;
• Claim only Solar PV systems installed at your principle place of residence (if you are a household);
• Consume 100 megawatt hours or less of electricity per year (if you are a small business or community organisation);
• Claim only one Solar PV system per site.

As part of the installation process, you will be required to complete the Schedule 1 component of the Customer Obligations Document which outlines the configuration of your system. Your installer will be able to complete the relevant sections at the time of installation.

Once your Solar PV is installed, you must contact your retailer to arrange for your existing meter to be changed for an interval meter which is able to measure both the import and export from your property. This will ensure you are able to receive the PFIT.

The Process

Click here to view an overview of the process required to gain access to the PFIT (opens in a new window).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Below is an excerpt of FAQ's from the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) website. For further FAQ's and information about feed-in tariffs, please visit the DPI Feed-in tariff page.

What is a feed-in tariff?

A feed-in tariff is a payment to households, community organisations and small businesses from power companies for electricity that is 'fed into' the power grid. Customers that install small-scale renewable energy systems can sometimes produce more energy than they can use. If connected to the power grid, these customers can feed this electricity back into the grid.

Over what time period do feed-in tariffs run?

The premium feed-in tariff scheme will run for 15 years from its start date (1 November 2009). There is an overall state-wide cap of 100MW. Once generation capacity installed under the scheme has reached this cap, the scheme will be closed to new applicants. The standard feed-in tariff does not have a time limit - it is ongoing.

How much energy does an average system generate? How much will I get back?

In Victoria, an average residential solar electricity system (1.5 kilowatts in size) can produce over 2,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year. Even if only 500 kilowatt hours were returned to the grid per year, the owner would be eligible to receive feed-in payments of $300 per annum. The system would also be reducing the amount of electricity consumed in the owner's household by 1,500 kilowatt hours per year, saving about $300. So in total, these solar households would be about $600 better off per year.

The amount a household returns to the grid will depend on how much energy is consumed and when the solar panels are generating power. Owners will be able to maximise the credit from their solar system by improving their energy efficiency and returning more power to the grid.

For example, people can switch off appliances which aren't needed, shift some tasks to the evening, shade windows to minimise the need for air-conditioning and so on. For more advice on ways to save energy go to www.saveenergy.vic.gov.au.

The amount of electricity exported, and thus the amount of feed-in tariff received from solar panels for community groups and small business depends on the electricity usage pattern at those premises.

How will Smart Meters help me access the feed-in tariff?

Over the next four years, every Victorian home and small business will have their current meter upgraded to a smart meter - which will fully support feed-in tariffs, as they will be able to measure electricity usage every half hour and record both power being used and power being sent to the grid.

What is the difference between premium feed-in tariff and standard feed-in tariff?

Premium feed-in tariff is applicable for houses, community organisations and small businesses that consume less than 100 megawatt hours a year. This premium rate is more than three times higher than the standard retail rate customers pay for electricity.

Standard feed-in tariff is applicable to larger renewable power systems (solar, wind, hydro and biomass) that are up to 100 kilowatts in size.

More Information

Embedded Generation

Alan Green

03 - 8544 9702

Email: alan.green@jemena.com.au

All Jemena distribution enquiries

Paul Johnson

Email: paul.johnson@jemena.com.au

 

For questions regarding products, services and billing, please contact your electricity retailer (the company you receive your electricity bill from).