Green for go for renewable energy and critical minerals sectors

Grants and subsidies from the Albanese government will boost the country’s renewable energy and critical mineral industries if the centrepiece legislation proves successful.

Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton. Picture: Tony Lewis/CEC

Grants and subsidies from the Albanese government will boost the country’s renewable energy and critical mineral industries if the centrepiece legislation proves successful, executives have said.

Anthony Albanese on Thursday said his government would move to legislate a Future Made in Australia Act, an umbrella law that will encompass the subsidies to bolster and underwrite domestic manufacturing – with a focus on renewable energy – and others that will be announced in the next federal budget.

The Prime Minister said the act was Australia’s answer to Washington’s signature energy policy, the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers substantial subsidies to bolster renewable energy assets.

Traditional manufacturers, however, said the policy was unlikely to be able to bridge the gulf to traditional heavyweights like the US and China.

Kane Thornton, chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, said the policy would drive the country’s energy transition. “The Prime Minister’s speech marks another decisive moment for Australia’s ambition to secure a place as a leading nation in the global clean energy industry,” he said.

“The federal government has plans to back its vision with a substantial policy agenda, putting renewable energy at the centre of our economic future.

“The highlighted areas of hydrogen, green metals and advanced clean energy manu­factu­ring and assembly are genuine opportunities for Australia to expand, grow and diversify our economy centred around clean energy and create further demand for a large, skilled clean energy workforce.”

The Albanese government has put accelerating the transition at the heart of its policy agenda, pledging to rapidly wean the country’s $2.5 trillion economy off its coal dependency.

Labor has set a target of having renewable energy generate 82 per cent of the country’s power by 2030, which would require a substantial amount of new wind and solar generation. While the industry has insisted it can deliver, developers have warned of a substantial logjam in sourcing the wind turbines or the critical minerals to develop them.

Mr Albanese this month said his government would put up $1bn to establish solar panel manufacturing in Australia, a policy praised by renewable energy developers as transformative but classified a waste by some economists.

The Albanese government has pledged $2bn for critical mineral mining and processing, about double what was previously offered through low-interest loans for sourcing and processing material such as cobalt, lithium, manganese and rare earths.

Mark Eaton, general manager of Nyrstar, a manufacturer of zinc, lead and other metals, said the policy from Labor was a milestone for the industry. “We operate in an extremely competitive global market and look forward to engaging with the government to contribute our ideas and experiences to support this important initiative,” he said.

Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the country would need drastic tax ­reform to attract international ­investment.

“We can’t achieve that without a competitive tax system or by handing more power to trade unions to tie businesses in ever-tighter knots,” he said.

Originally published as Green for go for renewable energy and critical minerals sectors