Victorian energy upgrade program

Victorian Energy Upgrade

Victorian Energy Upgrade (VEU), previously known as Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET), is a scheme undertaken by the Victorian government in order to reduce the overall carbon footprint of Victoria. Through the process, an Accredited Person (AP) generates Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates (VEECs). The government does not set the VEEC prices; rather, it depends on the market’s supply and demand. The overall goal here is to reduce the number of inefficient appliances that skyrocket an individual’s electricity bill, as well as increase greenhouse gas emissions immensely.

Note that not everyone is eligible to generate certificates. Only an (AP) has the right to create certificates and sell them to the energy retailers, eventually laying down the whole scheme in action.

Project-based Activities under VEU

The essential services commission introduced project-based activities to enable businesses to access financial incentives for large and customer Victorian Energy Upgrades projects. Contrary to the deemed activities, this provides businesses the flexibility to offset the cost of their energy efficiency improvement projects and access greater incentives which would be rather unattainable under the current scheme structure.

There are currently two methods under VEU to measure energy savings:

• Measurement and Verification method (M&V)
• Benchmark rating method

We employ the measurement and verification method, which relies on site-specific measurements to determine a project’s baseline and post-activity energy consumption. It potentially allows multiple technologies, techniques, upgrades, and abatement methods to be combined in one project.

Businesses are eligible to claim the rebates by calculating the energy saved from a certain upgrade or a range of upgrades. The majority of activities under VEU utilise an average-based calculation for energy savings with a given upgrade. However, this might not be suitable for a complex situation that would need more of a customised approach. M&V technique can benefit significantly in such cases and is an ideal solution.

The project-based activities scheme is very lucrative for businesses as this also involves fuel-switching to a renewable energy source such as a solar photovoltaic system. This can be utilised for system sizes greater than 100 kW. The energy produced from this project must be utilised within the measurement boundary, and no VEECs can be generated for energy exported to the grid.

Am I eligible?

The program allows businesses to be eligible for the energy upgrade project if:

• The site is non-residential; the project only pertains to the central services of multi-residential property
• The project can result in lower greenhouse gas emissions

These projects must take place in Victoria and needs to show that they:

• are not required by law
• are not also claiming benefits under a prescribed greenhouse gas scheme
• are not underway before scoping plan approval
• reduce the site’s energy consumption (kWh for electricity or GJ for gas).

Steps to undertake Project-based activities

The proposed project needs to be approved by Essential Services Commission in two steps, mainly the scoping and project plan. The scoping plan defines the scope of the project, including but not limited to the main intent of the project, ownership, etc. The project plan further builds on this and provides a viable project plan outlining the different techniques to gather baseline data and the type of energy reduction activity.

Measuring the baseline is a critical aspect of any project-based activity as the amount of energy reduction is calculated from this set value.

Once the approval phase has been completed, work can be commenced on the nominated property. The next step in the activity is to submit an impact report. This report outlines the exact abatement achieved by the project, further assisting with calculating the amount of VEECs.

What are VEECs?

Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates, known as VEECs, are the certificates generated by the accredited person when they replace any power-hungry appliances with the efficient ones. These certificates can only be generated by the APs.

Each certificate denotes a tonne of greenhouse gas prevented from entering our atmosphere. The government permitted third-party companies, accredited by ESC (Essential Services Commission), to replace ordinary light bulbs and heating systems with efficient ones.

These certificates, later on, get sold to the energy retailers who actively partake in greenhouse gas emissions by producing more than 5000MW electricity within a year.

What is the Current VEEC Price?

The VEECs price fluctuates every now and then. As these prices are not fixed rather; it goes up and down depending on the supply and demand of such certificates.

However, if we analyse the VEECs price history, it can be seen that the prices are dropping in recent days. But it can never be told that the situation will remain the same at all times.

To know more about the current VEECs’ price, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Solar Emporium. As we are eligible to create certificates, we remain up to date with the prices; also, we can provide you with accurate information.

How Much Is VEECs Price?

As per renew economy, the previous VEECs’ prices are given below

Closing Spot of VEECs Price

How Much is a VEEC worth?

The exact worth of a certificate cannot be determined right away. A lot of variables have to be taken into consideration before stating how much is VEEC worth. For example, the currently available replaceable number of inefficient appliances, the type of appliance, how much electricity does it consume, how much can be saved after the replacement, when it was installed in the first place, and so much more.

There are penalties for retailers who fail to fulfil their quota on time. That’s called shortfall penalties. These penalty prices are decided by the authority. For the year 2021, it has been set to $70 for any shortfall accrued, $80 for the target year 2022, and $90 for the year 2023 till now.

Conclusion

As the energy usage in businesses is increasing daily, it is about time they are offered a much more lucrative financial incentive program to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The project-based activities under the VEU scheme let a majority of businesses in Victoria be a part of that goal while enabling economic options. While saving energy by undertaking project-based activities, businesses contribute to lower the GHG emissions.