Under the carbon pricing mechanism we will buy-back free carbon units, issued through the industry assistance programs including the Jobs and Competitiveness Program and the Coal-Fired Generators Assistance Package. We will issue the first free units to coal-fired generators in September 2013.
If you hold free carbon units issued during a fixed charge year (2012-2013 to 2014-2015), you or your authorised representative can request we cancel the units through the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (ANREU) in exchange for payment of a buy-back amount.
Buy-back is available from 1 September of the financial year the units were issued until 1 February of the following year.
The following table indicates the buy-back period and fixed price for units of particular vintage years:
| Vintage year |
Fixed price |
Buy-back period |
| 2012 - 2013 |
$23.00 |
1 Sept 2012 – 1 Feb 2014 |
| 2013 - 2014 |
$24.15 |
1 Sept 2013 – 1 Feb 2015 |
| 2014 - 2015 |
$25.40 |
1 Sept 2014 – 1 Feb 2016 |
The buy-back amount for carbon units will be discounted until 15 June of the relevant vintage year. After 15 June until 1 February the following year, units will be bought at the full value of the carbon units of that vintage.
If carbon units issued under an Industry assistance scheme are not surrendered or are not bought back by 1 February following the end of the financial year that is their vintage, they will be cancelled.
We publish details of the buy-back price for one free carbon unit on each day of the current month.
How buy-back works
A buy-back request is initiated by the holder of free units by logging into the ANREU system and requesting a transaction.
Before we can process a buy back request, you must complete the bank details for ANREU account holders form.
There are two key client roles in the process:
- an Initiator, who starts the process in ANREU, and
- an Approver, who requests in ANREU the Clean Energy Regulator to buy-back the units.
Buy-back works as follows:
- An Initiator and an Approver are required to complete the process. The Initiator and Approver are usually two separate individuals who have been nominated as authorised representatives. One person can be both the Initiator and the Approver if they are the only nominated authorised representative for the account. If more than one individual is nominated as an authorised representative, the same individual cannot be both the Initiator and Approver for the same transaction.
- The Initiator logs into the ANREU system, selects the units in the account they wish us to buy back from them, and then presses submit.
- Once the buy-back transaction has been initiated, a PIN is sent to the Approver, allowing them to approve the buy-back transaction (we receive the request to buy-back the units once the Approver approves the transaction in ANREU)
- Once the request is processed, a tax invoice for the buy-back transaction is emailed to the ANREU account holder's registered email address. Processing of the request will generally be completed by the Clean Energy Regulator within five business days from the date of the buy-back request. Payment of the buy-back amount will be deposited by electronic funds transfer into the account holder's registered bank account. (Note: you need to notify us of your bank details before payment can be made).