Australia has just 71 months left to start transforming its energy system, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen warns, and he has called on all levels of Australian government to speed up planning decisions for new energy projects and transmissions lines to meet renewable targets set for 2030.
“It is important that we get to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ more quickly,” said Bowen during a sod-turning ceremony marking the start of construction of what is set to be NSW’s largest wind farm, a 69-turbine project by Squadron Energy, a renewable energy company owned by Andrew Forrest, near Wellington in central NSW.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen in Dubbo on Thursday.Credit: Squadron
Bowen’s comment came after Victorian Climate Action and Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio claimed the Albanese government failed to support the offshore wind industry, after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek vetoed an application for a port linked to the Star of the South wind project on environmental grounds.
“If we had a national plan with national targets and national funding and national coordination, then we wouldn’t have had this problem with the port,” D’Ambrosio said on Wednesday.
Bowen declined to return fire on Thursday, saying only that the federal and state governments co-operated on the energy transition, and that the federal government would welcome an amended application that met environmental standards.
He said that as the grid was transformed over the coming years to hit a target of 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030, it was important that community concerns be heard and environmental standards met, so long as the process was quick.
“It’s important to get to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as quickly as possible. If it’s yes, that’s great. If it’s no, at least for those who received the ‘no’ and the approval process, they can move on to another project,” Bowen said.
“As of January 1, we have 71 months to 2030, 71 months to get this job done: 2030 might seem like a long way away, but it is not. We have to get this done, and we will get this done.”
At Thursday’s ceremony in Dubbo, Forrest announced that Squadron Energy had committed to building 14 gigawatts of renewable energy – mostly wind, but including solar and hydrogen by 2030, which would be enough to power 6 million homes.
The federal government has a target of 82 per cent renewable energy in the grid by 2030.Credit: James Brickwood
Forrest announced his company had forged a $2.75 billion deal with US-based multinational General Electric to secure the wind turbines Squadron’s projects would need during an international race for the technology, as many nations were chasing 2030 and 2035 emissions reductions targets.
He said renewable technology was not only cheaper than fossil fuels and renewables, but also more secure in a world where bad actors could control fossil fuel supplies.
“I don’t want machine gun-toting, fruitcake extremists in Yemen, firing missiles in the Red Sea, to dictate if I can [drive] my kids to school here in Dubbo,” Forrest said.
“Why would I want that? Why would I back oil and gas when it’s controlled by people like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin?”
Flights to Dubbo were supplied by Squadron Energy.
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