Spark for our hi-tech new economy

Renewables plan can herald low-carbon economy and advanced manufacturing, write Richard Eccleston and Ben Parr

THE Draft Tasmanian Renewable Energy Action Plan released this week was well received in part because it provides a much needed glimpse of what economic recovery and a prosperous and innovative post-COVID Tasmania might look like.

The headline is a 200 per cent renewable energy target by 2040, to be legislated this year. While this target is significant, perhaps more importantly the action plan starts to sketch how greater renewable energy generation will enable Tasmania to lead the country in the transition to a low-emission economy.

Arguably this transition to a low-carbon economy will be quicker and more profound in the aftermath of COVID-19 as we plan for recovery.

The outlook is less certain than ever but, if crises past are anything to go by, it will also be a time of change. We need to understand and anticipate these changes. Investment in infrastructure, businesses and communities must capitalise on these changes rather than trying to restore the past.

The 200 per cent target is impressive and timely, especially given the fact that will it be legislated. In effect, the target will build on our strong track record of renewable generation by mandating a doubling of our renewable production from 2022 to 2040. The action plan also identifies an interim target of 150 per cent by 2030, although it’s unclear whether this target will be legislated.

Either way, a legislated longterm target provides business and prospective investors with much needed certainly as to Tasmania’s renewable energy trajectory and should enjoy broadbased political support in Tasmania.

But scattered ducks will have to align to realise the goals of the action plan. Achieving the 2040 target depends on several projects coming to fruition: Project Marinus interconnector; Hydro’s Battery of the Nation scheme; a suite of large-scale wind projects and fewer, yet large, solar projects coming online. But to paraphrase Kevin Costner’s Field of

Dreams, “if you have an ambitious target, they will come”.

The linchpin in all of this is securing support and funding for Project Marinus, and here the post-COVID crisis recovery provides an important window of opportunity to seal the Marinus deal.

This nationally significant opportunity needs buy-in and investment from the Commonwealth as well as long overdue recognition that the cost of transmission infrastructure should be shared between all those who benefit in the National Energy Market. Should this occur, the benefit for Tasmania would be significant, including $7.1 billion and more than 2300 skilled renewable energy jobs.

However, it is not clear that Marinus is a done deal and despite our ability to provide competitively priced renewable power for firming the national grid, the opportunity is yet to be captured. Marinus is critically important for Tasmania and the National Energy Market but we can’t be a one-trick pony focused on renewable energy exports alone.

The real value in doubling renewable generation is that it will lay the foundation for the broader transition to a net zero emissions economy, which will be the real source of leadership, innovation, brand distinction and jobs.

To make renewable energy work for the Tasmanian community and maximise investment and employment we will have to develop innovative, diverse and commercially sustainable uses for expanding renewable energy supply.

Diversification will be the key, especially when clean energy and new technologies are designed to support existing industries. Certified green hydrogen production will be part of our industrial future, but should be used for a range of domestic applications as well as for export. For example, green hydrogen can be used to produce ammonia and low carbon fertiliser which would create a new industry while reducing emissions in our all important and expanding agricultural sector.

Emissions from Tasmania’s transport and heavy industry sectors have proven stubbornly consistent over time. Transport presents significant low-hanging fruit. Using new renewable energy sources for powering masstransport networks is critical

for emission reduction, but would also enhance brand Tasmania.

As part of the sectoral emissions analysis outlined in the action plan there could be a focus on how heavy industry emissions could be tackled through innovations including on-island carbon offsets to cancel out fugitive emissions from industrial processes.

Perhaps most importantly, Tasmania, as a globally competitive supplier of renewable energy, could become a hub for advanced manufacturing. As Ross Garnaut has argued, renewable energy is harder to transport than fossil fuels resulting in more manufacturing and energy intensive production being located near renewable energy suppliers such as Tasmania.

Crises create acute shortterm challenges alongside long-term opportunities. As we start planning for Tasmania’s recovery we should aspire to an economy which is future-focused and capitalises on our strengths and assets. To this end the renewable action plan and the associated review of the Tasmanian Climate Change Action Plan lay a foundation stone for Tasmania to lead the country in the transition to a prosperous and sustainable net zero emissions economy.