Since the release of the Climate Change Authority’s issues paper on the renewable energy target, public debate on the target has been primarily split between two camps. One is to change it because of the possibility of its delivering more than 20 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020. The other is to retain it without change to give policy certainty and maintain investor confidence.

Investor confidence is a term often used by industry but what does it mean? In a sector where a single investment can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, it is critical to ensure project costs are minimised; investors have reasonable confidence in expected returns; and projects are delivered.