In Green Left Weekly #811, we said that the renewable energy company Solar Systems had collapsed "due to its major investor, TRUenergy, withdrawing its investment". TRUenergy wrote to us to point out that this statement was wrong.
TRUenergy wrote that, in August, its parent company China Light & Power "recorded a write-down against the value of its investment in Solar Systems following difficulties Solar Systems had encountered securing additional finance for its business operations. This was not a withdrawal of funding to either the project or the business and not the reason for Solar System's collapse, as was incorrectly reported in Green Left Weekly." We accept this correction.
However, this episode underlines the lack of government support for making the transition to renewable energy. Relying on market forces and private investors to build the renewable energy industry is not a viable strategy to stop climate change.
What is needed is for government to mobilise all of society for a massive program of investment in renewable energy plants and energy conservation.
Supporters of renewable energy are staging another protest to demand that the federal government guarantee the future of Australia's first large-scale solar power plant at 2pm on October 11 at the Solar Systems plant, 45 Grosvenor St., Abbotsford.