Offshore wind and renewables, not coal, are the future for Gippsland

After growing up in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and working for more than 40 years in the area’s coal fired power stations, where I am currently employed as a senior operator, I have seen immense change in my region.

I grew up on a farm near the demolished Hazelwood power station, and as a kid I swam in the warm waters of the station’s cooling water pondage.

The Loy Yang coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley.Credit: Bloomberg

Like so many others, I have now come to the strong realisation that there is no future for coal in our community and it is being rightfully phased out.

I find myself in an interesting place working in a coal-fired power station while advocating for renewable energy, like solar and wind. But the transition to clean energy is inevitable.

When I started out, employment opportunities in Gippsland were dominated by coal mines and associated power stations.

Now, with a declining coal industry brought on as cheaper renewable energy pushes it out, as well as the economic slump the coronavirus pandemic has caused, we’re faced with a rebuilding and recovery task.

Coal-dependent communities such as the Latrobe Valley need something positive to focus on and the opportunities renewables provide are both immense and exciting.

The federal government introduced a bill into Parliament last week that could enable the construction of offshore wind projects in national waters for the first time.

This is a great step forward and will create confidence for investment in offshore wind projects, something needed for years. Exciting projects are planned around the country, including the Star of the South wind farm just off the Gippsland coast.

Studies have shown there is more than enough offshore wind energy potential around Australia to power the nation several times over.

The Veja Mate offshore wind farm in Germany is similar to what the Star of the South would be.

Offshore wind farms will play a strong supportive role in developing Australia’s zero emissions future by introducing another source of electricity production into the energy mix.

We have been held back from making the most of our great offshore wind potential and are lagging far behind our trading partners. This new legislation is exactly what is needed to diversify the energy sector and we desperately need adaptable political will to embrace these new energy opportunities.

This transition can happen in a way that will bring along and provide new jobs for coal workers and their communities.

Coal has provided power to Victoria and Australia for the last 100 years, but it is now an outdated energy source and there is an opportunity for us, over the next 100 years, to power the nation with clean energy from renewables.

Rebuilding with new industries, including offshore wind farm projects, will help create many local jobs and offer more security for workers.

With coal and stations closing down, an increased connection capacity to the national grid is being created in the Latrobe Valley for projects such as Star of South.

The newest brown coal power station in Victoria came into service about 30 years ago, and there are currently no plans to build another.

Also, the longer we push our elderly power plants beyond the lifespan they were designed for, the more unreliable they become.

Gas plants sitting idle are also becoming unviable to run as renewables are pushing the price of electricity down.

Workers in fossil fuel industries see this every day and have watched power stations close down and friends lose jobs. We are willing to transfer our skills and learn new ones, to find jobs working with these new technologies.

But, to help us do this, our communities are craving direction from our governments around what the future holds. In Germany and Spain the governments worked with coal companies and unions to manage the transition to renewable energy and help workers retrain into new jobs.

It is now up to our state and federal governments to equip workers like me with new skills and opportunities for the next stage in power generation. We’re highly skilled, adaptable and up for the challenge.

This is not a country versus city issue, it is a national one that we all need to deal with.

It is time we made the transition to clean renewable energy, including making the most of abundant offshore wind, so workers and communities in areas such as the Latrobe Valley can reap the benefits of not only a stronger economy but also a better environment for our children and grandchildren.

Tony Wolfe is a current operator at Loy Yang power station, a member of the community advisory board for the Star of the South offshore wind farm and a board director for the Gippsland Climate Change Network.