27 October 2009
Don’t punish solar hot water, says Rheem Australia
Solar hot water rebates vital to Renewable Energy Target scheme
Solar hot water industry leader Rheem Australia – whose brands include Rheem, Solahart,
Edwards and Vulcan – has refuted claims that the Federal Government’s $1,600 solar hot
water rebate is to blame for putting renewable energy infrastructure investment at risk.
“The Commonwealth’s Solar Water Heater Rebate has not backfired. Indeed, the rebate,
combined with the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme, has had
a positive impact in safeguarding and creating local jobs, reducing household greenhouse
gases, lowering household utility bills and reducing load on the electricity grid,” says Gareth
Jennings, Rheem’s corporate affairs manager.
And the decline in the value of the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Certificates
(RECs) is likely to be temporary, says Gareth: “Over the last few years we have seen the
price of RECs range from was as low as $12 to over $50. Fluctuation in the price of RECs is
to be expected in a tradeable market environment and we expect the price to rise in the
coming months as recent changes to both the RET and rebate schemes work their way
through the market.”
For an Australian manufacturing industry that employs more than 2000 people directly and
which employs thousands more in installation roles, the inclusion of solar hot water heaters
in the RET scheme is vital to help the Australian water heater manufacturing industry
transition from high energy water heaters to sustainable solutions.
Not only has the scheme meant the creation of many more local jobs as production has
increased, but the local rebate scheme has also had a flow on effect for Australia’s export
industry. Solahart is the world’s leading brand of solar water heater, and the increases in
factory capacity and throughput arising from this local initiative have enhanced its global
competitiveness further.
“Since the inclusion of solar and heat pump water heaters in the MRET scheme in 2001,
over 400,000 Australian homes have installed solar hot water systems. This in turn has
reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 2.5M tonnes. And with the price of domestic
energy increasing and predicted to rise even further in the near future, supporting the solar
industry in this way makes good common and economic sense for Australian
manufacturing, homeowners and the environment,” says Gareth.
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About Rheem Australia
Rheem has operated in Australia since 1936 and is the largest manufacturer of water heaters in
Australia. Its brands include Rheem, Solahart, Edwards, Vulcan, Raypak, Accent Air and Everhot. It
employs in excess of 1000 people in Australia in four manufacturing facilities in NSW, Victoria and
Western Australia. It has additional subsidiary organisations in New Zealand, China and Europe. It is
For further information:
Lisa Llewellyn
Hedgie Gundry
Llewellyn Communications
Llewellyn Communications
t: (02) 9970 5312 m: 0419 401 362
t
: (02) 9970 5312 m : 0400 316 718
e: lisa@llewcom.com.au
e
: hedgie@llewcom.com.au
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