Tom Morton is in the final stages of a large collaborative research project on the social legitimacy of renewable energy in India, Germany and Australia. Tom spoke to the Sydney Knitting Nannas before our recent meeting at Customs House. His research focuses on Australia and what the Federal Government is doing.
Tom believes that Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, is committed to the energy transition and climate action. The Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, has been critical of the gas industry. The Federal Government is going in the right direction but it has a long way to go.
It’s like the llama in Dr Dolittle that has two heads – push me, pull you – wanting to go in opposite directions. Labor’s push to expand renewable energy is going in the right direction, but its policy on coal and gas exports is pulling in the opposite direction, due to the powerful lobbying of those industries and the need to win seats in WA and Queensland to retain government.
Currently Australia has 32% renewables and the aim is 82% renewables by 2030.
South Australia leads the states consistently, at 70% renewables, and some days way over that. They export electricity too, to Victoria and will in the future to NSW.
To reach 82% by 2030, we need to be installing 40 wind turbines every month. Currently we are only growing at half the rate needed in order to reach our target.
Problems
- Neglect and obstruction from previous governments. Any advances happened in spite of the federal government, rather than because of it. State government policy in South Australia, Victoria and NSW under former Environment Minister Matt Kean has driven renewable expansion along with private investment.
- There is a lot of finance capital worldwide that wants to invest in renewables. Australia is in competition for investment capital because the US Inflation Reduction Act has US$370 billion to spend on measures dedicated to improving energy security and accelerating clean energy transitions. We need foreign investment to reach our goals, unless there is massive public sector investment from both state and federal governments.
Investment
- The Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is Labor’s flagship policy to accelerate the expansion of renewables. They want to build 32 GW (gigawatts) of electricity generation.
- Currently we have a total of about 80 GW, including 21 GW of coal and 12 GW of gas, so that would theoretically replace all the existing coal and gas generation in Australia (but will not necessarily cover any increased demand for electricity as we electrify more and more of our economy). One surprising fact is that there is 18 GW of rooftop solar installed in Australia – nearly as much as the 21 GW of coal fired-generation. But coal still dominates supply to the grid.
- The CIS includes 23 GW of renewable generation and 9 GW of “clean dispatchable capacity”; this may include some new gas generation and also large-scale batteries.
- The CIS is going to drive national investment/expansion of renewable energy.
- Investors will be building renewables – windfarms, solar farms, storage batteries, off-shore wind.
- The CIS guarantees a certain rate of return for investors. If investors get less than the agreed price then the government underwrites that, providing some certainty for investors. If they earn more, they pay that back to the government.
- Already NSW has had some investment under CIS – $1.8 billion – put into 3 batteries and 3 virtual power plants.
- In 6 years we have to triple the amount of renewable energy worldwide in order to keep at 1.5 degrees.
- Big message from our research is it is corporate – neoliberal capitalist renewable energy development which is driving the expansion of renewables, but that is also part of the problem.
- The scale of the change needs private investors, but can also create conflicts as some people benefit, and some don’t (those whose land wind turbines or solar farms are on get a good return; those who are nearby but don’t have them on their land don’t get anything. Often communities are not properly consulted and don’t feel a sense of ownership of new large scale-renewable projects.
- Therefore we need to campaign for more publicly owned, community owned renewables.
Offshore Wind
Offshore wind projects in Newcastle and Wollongong should be supported. The Newcastle project is estimated to produce 5 GW but will take 10 years to come online. That is in addition to the 32 GW in the CIS.
Offshore wind is more reliable than onshore and there are no landholders to negotiate with.
Wind turbines are proposed to be 20km offshore. Instead of looking at container ships, wind turbines, the size of a thumbnail will be seen on the horizon.
Offshore windfarms will create jobs in areas currently dependent on coal where there are already massive transition lines.
Why is it moving so slowly?
- In NSW no new wind farms have been approved since 2021.
- There is opposition to building renewables onshore and offshore, and to new transmission lines which are integral to our grid system. The anti-renewables campaign must be watched and resisted, especially the disinformation around offshore wind.
- We need to strengthen our grid connections to SA, NSW, QLD, NT, ACT, Tasmania. If the wind’s not blowing in SA, it might be in Tasmania, etc. This large model smooths out transmission.
- There might be another way – more local grids and smaller-scale wind and solar generation. But that is not where we’re going.
- Transmission is being built primarily privately, but with government support. There is a very long planning/ approval processes for transmission.
- Communities distrust developers and new projects often fracture communities. Lots of ‘cowboys’ are out there. They don’t consult with the local community, don’t explain fully what the project will do, and don’t discuss what’s in it for the community. Some people benefit, some don’t. Farmers in New England who agree to have wind turbine on their land may receive a better return than from farming. But the farmer on the adjacent property with no turbines sees their neighbour getting $10,000 per year per turbine – way more than them.
- A landholder receives very generous compensation for hosting transmission lines on their property.
- People are concerned their land values may drop.
Solutions
The Energy Infrastructure Commissioner proposes to have
- a list of approved developers
- an explicit planning process regarding where there should/shouldn’t be wind turbines. Areas likely to be rejected on environmental significance grounds should be identified early.
Example of successful project
Avonlie, in Narrandera, has 450,000 solar panels creating 265 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes. This project has generated lots of employment for Wiradjuri people. The developers asked local First Nations People, ‘What can this project do for you?’ Lots of people couldn’t apply for jobs because they didn’t have ID so an ID Day was set up. Watch the video on ABC.
Developers often build solar farms then sell them to a larger company. Avonlie was sold to Spanish electric utility Iberdrola. ABC News
Conclusion
Think hard and critically. We must accept further industrialisation of the landscape, including fragile habitat. This is difficult, but there will be no nature left unless we act on climate change.
Reduce the amount of electricity we use. AI is very energy hungry. Cities burn electricity all night with lights on, but it is farmers who are asked to make the sacrifices.
Adhere to lessons learned. Solid consultation, who wins and who doesn’t? First Nations people must be consulted early.
Design is important – there should be more planning for smaller scale, local community-owned projects and microgrids.
- Support Federal Government and Chris Bowen’s efforts to do the right thing.
- Support offshore wind projects for Newcastle and Wollongong
- Support the NSW Government’s commitment to renewables and pressure Minns to invest in community owned renewables
- Encourage rooftop solar, make compulsory on new builds and extensions
- Incentivise households and businesses to get off gas
- Encourage reducing electricity
- Ensure project developers work with communities
- Map preferred locations for renewables:
– Solar or wind farms on top of old coal mines, near transmission lines
– Solar on sheep farms provides shade and green feed
– Wind turbines on cattle farms
– (Maybe) make productive cropping areas no go zones
References
National Electricity Market Fact Sheet
AEIC Review of community engagement practices