Electricity Supply Act - Feed-in tariffs

The Electricity Act in 1996 took the first step towards introducing a more competitive market, while at the same time providing for prioritisation of renewables and environmentally sound energy in the electricity supply. The Act provided that utilities had to give priority access to renewable energy production and pay a favourable buy-back rate of 85% of the consumer price of electricity in the area. (This formalised renewable electricity grid access that had been in practice since the 1980s.) The Act came into force in 1998.