The State and Federal Governments are offering financial rebates for replacing your existing electric hot water system with a more efficient and environmentally friendly system. This is made up of separate rebates from the State and Federal Governments and the amount of Renewable Energy Certificates awarded to the particular water heater.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REBATE
On 19 February 2010 the Government announced that a new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme will assist households to save money on power bills and reduce their carbon emissions.
This new Scheme will replace the Home Insulation Program and the Solar Hot Water Rebate Program both of which are discontinued as of close of business 19 February 2010.
From 20 February 2010, the rebate on solar hot water systems is reduced from $1,600 to $1,000 and the rebate on heat pump systems is reduced from $1,000 to $600.
IMPORTANT: All applications received from 20 March 2010 will be assessed for $1,000 for solar hot water and $600 for heat pump hot water systems, regardless of installation date.
In all cases final decisions regarding rebate eligibility will be made by the Government.
STATE GOVERNMENT REBATE
The NSW State Government rebates have also changed as follows:
$300 rebate for a gas hot water system with a 5 star or higher energy rating
$300 rebate for a solar or heat pump hot water system eligible for at least 20 Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) under the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET).
To be eligible for the rebate you must:
replace an existing electric hot water system
install the system in a residential property in NSW only
purchase the hot water system between 15 January 2010 and 30 June 2011
have the system installed by a licensed plumber.
Note: Those installing a gas instantaneous hot water system with a 5 star rating or more are also eligible to apply for the $150 rebate for the installation of a regulated or on demand hot water circulator.
Hot water systems installed to comply with BASIX (the Building Sustainability Index), for new homes and major renovations are not eligible for a rebate.
There is a limit of one hot water system rebate per property.
From 15 January 2010, the total amount of NSW Home Saver Rebates a household can receive must not exceed $1500 per property.
RECS (Renewable Energy Certificates)
RECS values are dependant on the zone in which the system is installed. The following diagram displays the RECS zones in Australia.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs):
- are an electronic form of currency initiated by the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000;
- may be created, on the internet based registry system (known as the REC Registry), by eligible parties for each megawatt-hour of eligible renewable electricity generated or deemed to have generated;
- are created by registered persons;
- are validated by the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator;
- are registered;
- are traded between registered persons;
- are eventually surrendered to demonstrate liability compliance against the requirements of the Australian Government's mandatory renewable energy target or voluntary surrender.
- may be traded separately from the physical electricity in a REC market.
Each REC:
- must have its own unique code;
- must be registered by the Renewable Energy Regulator before they are considered valid; and
- remains valid until surrendered against a liability or until voluntary surrendered..
Each unique REC code is to contain, in order:
- the registration number of the person who created the REC;
- the accreditation code of the:
- power station that generated the electricity; or
- solar water heater installation; or
- small generation unit installation;
- the year in which the electricity generation or installation took place; and
- a number, in an unbroken annual sequence starting at one, which represents the eligible megawatt hour of electricity generated or displaced.
