Burnie at centre of driving 200 per cent renewables target

The state’s Energy Minister has stamped Burnie the new epicentre of Tasmania’s efforts to go green, with a 200 per cent renewables target front of mind.

Port of Burnie file, illustrative picture of the working port of Burnie on January 3 2025. Picture: Elise Kaine

Burnie will become the epicentre of Tasmania’s efforts to reach a goal of producing twice the renewable energy it uses, Minister for Energy and Renewables Nick Duigan says.

Attending the formal launch of the $27.2m joint state and federal Clean Energy Centre of Excellence on Monday, Mr Duigan said the centre’s focus on training the workforce needed to deliver wind generation and pumped hydro technology would keep Tasmania at the fore.

“Tasmania is a renewable energy powerhouse. We have been for 100 years and will continue to be that in the future,” he said.

“Our legislated our target is to be 200 per cent renewable by 2040 and there are a number of steps that we’ve got to take to get there.

“This is a great foundation in terms of building the workforce that we will need to double our renewable energy capacity in 20 years.”

Tasmania's Minister for Energy and Renewables Nick Duigan and, and federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen announce a Bass Strait Renewable Energy Zone at Bell Bay Thursday, December 12, 2024.

The Tasmanian Renewable Energy Target requires the state to expand renewable energy generation to 21,000GWh by 2040, double the 2022 figure, with an interim target of 15,750GWh by 2023.

Tasmania’s planned North West Renewable Energy Zone is centred on Burnie. The plan included the Marinus Link cable plus multiple wind farms both onshore and in Bass Strait.

Teh federal government has declared a 7100 square kilometre wind zone 30km off the state’s north coast between Wynyard and Burnie.

Clean Energy Tasmania Chair Ian Jones said the announcement was great sign of support for the renewable energy sector in Tasmania.

“Burnie is the epicentre of the renewables industry,” Mr Jones said.

“Tasmania has the opportunity to become a world leader in developing renewable energy projects and we will need a skilled workforce to get the job done.

Minister for Parks and Environment Nick Duigan speaks to the media in Hobart on Thursday, December 19, 2024.

“While this is a great step forward, what we really need is for the Tasmanian and Australian Governments to start approving renewable projects to build. In the northwest alone there are proposals for a major wind farm at Robbins Island, three other wind farms, a solar farm, Marinus Link, a methanol production facility, the North West transmission project and many others.

“The Centre itself is an exciting opportunity using the next generation of technology like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence to train our youth for a range of jobs, including some that don’t exist now, but will be crucial in years to come.

“We need to train up the workforce but we also need to focus on making sure there are projects happening that require those skills.”

The Greens welcomed the development and said there was a need to fund a TAFE Tasmania Automotive Centre of Excellence to help build the workforce for the coming boom in electric cars on the state’s roads.

Originally published as Burnie at centre of driving 200 per cent renewables target