Guy Barnett,Minister for Energy
Tasmania is leading the nation when it comes to clean energy and today I was able to outline our progress to more than 1000 industry stakeholders at the national Clean Energy Council Ministerial Forum.
Today’s Clean Energy Forum webinar was a great chance to understand policy initiatives and challenges within the industry across the country, especially as our economies rebound from COVID-19.
It was also the perfect opportunity to outline to these key industry stakeholders that Tasmania has the answer when it comes to low cost, reliable and clean forms of energy.
With global demand for this type of renewable energy dramatically increasing, Tasmania’s nation-leading renewable energy industry provides us with a significant opportunity and a natural advantage.
The Tasmanian Government recently released a draft Tasmanian Renewable Energy Action Plan as well as our Tasmanian Renewable Energy Target, which aims to double our renewable generation to a globally significant 200 per cent of our current needs by 2040.
Tasmania is already on the cusp of being 100 per cent renewable electricity self-sufficient and we have been able to do this while also delivering some of the lowest electricity prices in the nation for Tasmanian consumers. Our plan is to deliver so much more.
We welcome the Federal Government’s recent decision to list Marinus Link as a national priority project and to speed up the design and approvals process to get this massive job-creating project to ‘shovel ready’ status sooner.
We also see renewable clean hydrogen as a great opportunity and to kick-start this process and the Tasmanian Liberal Government recently opened up the expression of interest process into a $50 million support package to build a renewable hydrogen industry here in Tasmania with hubs at Bell Bay and Burnie.
This industry development support package, the biggest in the nation, will stimulate investment in the renewable hydrogen industry in Tasmania, creating hundreds of jobs and injecting billions into our economy, particularly in regional areas.
We will invest $20 million through a Tasmanian Renewable Hydrogen Fund, provide up to $20 million in concessional loans and up to $10 million in support services which include competitive electricity supply arrangements and payroll tax relief, to drive industry development.
Clean, reliable renewable energy is a key advantage for Tasmania and the State Government is looking to maximise this potential as a major future economic driver with new business investment and thousands of jobs.
