Renewable energy target succeeding: report

AUSTRALIA'S renewable energy target (RET) has driven $18.5 billion of investment in clean power and eroded wholesale energy prices since it was introduced a decade ago, a new report suggests.

The Clean Energy Council analysis released on Thursday finds wholesale prices are as much as $10 per megawatt hour lower as a result of the RET being in place since 2001.

The target is meant to ensure 20 per cent of Australia's electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

It's currently being reviewed by the Climate Change Authority amid speculation that softer demand and the popularity of rooftop solar panels means the 20 per cent target may be exceeded.

Critics say overshooting the target would unnecessarily drive up retail power bills.

But the council-commissioned report by SKM MMA states the RET is doing its job and if left unchanged will result in 12 per cent less coal-fired generation between now and 2030.

Gas-fired generation is estimated to drop 13 per cent.

"Retaining the current RET will also mean we can meet the bulk of our target for reducing carbon emissions with renewable energy projects right here in Australia," council chief executive David Green said in a statement on Thursday.

"But all this is under threat if governments succumb to pressure to tinker with or drop the renewable energy target."

Thursday's report suggests that without the RET Australia would not have met its Kyoto emission-reduction goals.

It suggests the target could deliver an extra $18.7 billion in renewable energy infrastructure by 2030, on top of the $18.5 billion already invested.

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