Introduction
Last month the federal government published proposed regulations
for coal-fired electricity generation units.1 This
bulletin summarizes the proposed regulations, articulates the
likely response from interested groups, and sets out some
opportunities that could emerge as a result of the proposed
changes.
The proposed regulations
The regulations will apply to units that produce electricity by
means of thermal energy using coal (including petroleum coke and
synthetic gas derived from coal), whether in conjunction with other
fuels or not.
The heart of the proposed regulations limits each unit's
emissions to 375 tonnes of carbon dioxide for each gigawatt-hour
(GWh) of electricity produced from all fossil fuel sources in a
calendar year. This limit was set with a view to including it in
the gas-fired electricity generation regulations expected to be
proposed over the coming years as part of the government's
long-term strategy to reduce overall
