Chris Bowen’s energy mess continues with today’s news that the Norwegian company that was planning to build the $10 billion Hunter offshore wind project have abandoned it.
The news that the Hunter offshore wind project won’t go ahead follows the same news about the Illawarra wind project.
The failure of these projects means that the NSW transition away from coal fired power stations and their planned closure timelines will be extremely difficult to meet.
This announcement means that Chris Bowen’s dream of 82% of Australia’s electricity coming from renewable sources by 2030 will be almost impossible.
Recently Prof Ross Garnaut said that he believed Australia was going to miss the renewable energy target “not by a little, but by a big margin”.
Independent analysis by Rystad Energy shows that even in a best-case scenario the government will only reach 65% green energy by the end of the decade.
Now is the time for Chris Bowen to be honest with the Australian people and explain what this means for the coast electricity market.
Chris Bowen has been happy to travel around the country announcing offshore wind zones and claiming that each region could be “one of the energy powerhouses in Australia”. Today’s news shows how wrong he has been.
Given the market has made clear that offshore wind is not viable, it is time for Chris Bowen to step on the gas and drop the nuclear ban.
He could do this by immediately putting gas into the Capacity Investment Scheme like NSW has done with their state-based scheme.
He could also follow the lead of nearly every industrialised country in the world by allowing nuclear power to be seriously considered as one of the base load power options for Australia.
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Contact: Phil Connole 0417 063 605 | phil.connole@aph.gov.au
