The Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) has welcomed the proposed changes, saying that it recognises the importance of personal action on climate change, while freeing up the Renewable Energy Target (RET) for large scale investments.

“Perhaps the most damaging element of recent solar policy for the solar industry has been constant change. This announcement gives the industry the certainty it needs moving forward,” said Chief Executive of AuSES John Grimes.

Mr Grimes added that while the proposed changes were welcomed, he said that further Government support was necessary to ensure a strong Australian solar industry.

“The Australian Government should support large scale solar through loan guarantees or a national feed-in tariff,” Mr Grimes said.

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Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy Australia also welcomed the proposed changes, and said that it was looking forward to the release of the industry consultation paper where the details of the changes will be made clear.

"The Government’s announced intention to improve the operation of RET is great news and will underpin the successful expansion of Australia’s renewable energy industry," said Chief Executive Officer of Suzlon Energy Australia Dan Hansen.

But while the solar and wind industries were supportive of the changes, Chief Executive of the Australian Geothermal Energy Association Susan Jeanes said she did not believe the proposed changes would benefit the geothermal industry.

Ms Jeanes said that the changes only made a distinction between small and large scale projects, failing to provide support for emerging technologies such as geothermal power.

“This will in fact make it harder for geothermal, because it will increase competition between geothermal and large scale technologies that are already developed,” Ms Jeanes said.

Ms Jeanes said that while the Department of Climate Change’s modelling predicts that geothermal energy will take up a quarter of the target, she believed that investors needed certainty that the Renewable Energy Certificates provided would be available at an adequate price.

As a solution, Ms Jeanes suggested that the Government extend its ‘banding’ concept that the announcement introduces so that 25 per cent of the target is set aside for geothermal projects, in line with Government’s modelling.

The Government has proposed to divide the RET into two parts: the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, which would include technologies such as solar panels and solar hot water systems; and the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target, which would deliver the vast majority of the RET, and cover large scale renewable energy projects.