The regulated feed-in tariff rate is determined by the Regulator each financial year using the method set out in the relevant feed-in tariff rate determination.
The regulated feed-in tariff rate is the minimum rate that retailers must pay owners of qualifying small scale distributed generation systems (ie solar, wind or mini-hydro) on mainland Tasmania (including Bruny Island) for exporting electricity generated by those systems to the grid.
Feed-in tariff rate from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023
From 1 July 2022,the minimum feed-in tariff rate is 8.883 cents per kWh.
The 2022-23 feed-in tariff rate, determined in accordance with the Regulator's 2022 Regulated Feed-in Tariff Rate Determination, is 37 per cent higher than the 2021-22 rate. The higher rate is due to an increase in the wholesale electricity price (WEP) calculated by the Regulator for 2022-23 in accordance with the methodology set out in the Standing Offer Price Approval Guideline.
Regulated feed-in tariffs for customers
- Customers must have a qualifying electricity generating system (solar, wind or water generators compliant with Australian Standard AS4777, with a maximum capacity of 10 kW for a single-phase system or 30 kW for a three phase system) connected to the distribution network through import/export meters which record electricity transferring from and to the network.
- Energy a customer uses onsite is offset from their power usage.
- When a customer does not use all electricity generated by their system, the excess is exported to the network and they are paid a FiT rate per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity exported.
- When the system does not generate enough energy to meet the customer's demand (for example at night, during day-time peak periods, or in winter when there is fewer daylight hours), electricity is imported from the grid.
Determination of the feed-in tariff rate
The following table sets out the feed-in tariff rates, as determined by the Regulator, after conducting investigations in 2015-16,
2018-19 and 2021-22.
Table 1: Regulated minimum FiT rates under regulated feed-in tariff rate determinations
Current Determination
|
Period | c/kWh |
2022 Regulated Feed-in Tariff Rate Determination
(1 July 2022 to 30 June 2025)
| 1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023
| 8.883
|
Previous Determinations:
| |
|
2019 Regulated Feed-in Tariff Rate Determination
(1 July 2019 to 30 June 2022)
| 1 July 2021- 30 June 2022
| 6.501
|
| 1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021
| 8.471
|
| 1 July 2019 - 30 June 2020
| 9.347
|
2016 Regulated Feed-in Tariff Rate Determination
(1 July 2016 to 30 June 2019) | 1 July 2018 - 30 June 2019 | 8.541 |
Transitional feed-in tariff rates
Transitional arrangements for feed-in tariff customers ceased on 1 January 2020. All customers previously identified as transitional are now regulated feed-in-tariff customers.
Transitional feed-in tariff rates were introduced to assist customers who had installed a solar system to recoup the cost of that investment. Their legislated, premium rates were available for a period of five years and expired on 31 December 2018.
Customers who, prior to 31 August 2013:
- installed a qualifying distribution system; or
- had an application approved by TasNetworks to install or extend such a system (installation and connection was required by 31 August 2014), were eligible for these rates.
These arrangements were closed to new participants by 2014. Under these arrangements:
- residential customers received 28.283c/kWh; and
- small business customers received:
- 38.577 c/kWh for energy consumed up to 500 kWh in a quarterly billing period; and
- 28.319 c/kWh for energy consumed above 500 kWh in a quarterly billing period.
From 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2019, both residential and small business customers received the 2018-19 regulated FiT rate plus an additional Government funded bonus of 5 c/kWh. Between 1 July 2019 and 31 December 2019 these customers received the additional Government bonus of 5 c/kWh on top of the 2019-20 regulated FiT rate.