MCE gives green light to developing network connections for wind and geothermal generation clusters

The Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) recently approved the Australian Energy Market Commission's recommendation to facilitate efficient network investment to allow for future generation connection. In its communiqué of 4 December 2009, the MCE recognised the need to continually refine and further strengthen existing energy frameworks and agreed that the MCE would request the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to initiate rule change processes to introduce a new legal framework for the more efficient connection of clusters of generation known as Scale Efficient Network Extensions (SENEs).

As part of its Review of Energy Market Frameworks in light of Climate Change Policies, the AEMC recommended to the MCE that a new framework be introduced into the National Electricity Rules that provided for the efficient connection of generation to distribution and transmission networks where clusters of generators in the same locations are expected to seek connection over