Renewables manufacturing and energy security

It might seem that the transition to renewable energy would only enhance Australia’s energy security: it will not be easy to impede the nation’s access to sunlight or wind. But the process of transforming these abundant resources to energy requires equipment, almost all of which is imported and thus relies on sound trading relationships and supply chains.

LEE Offshore wind turbines are of such vast scale that local manufacturing may be required. Could the prospect of job creation encourage community engagement?

TOME There is a great opportunity for local communities to get long-lasting jobs not just in offshore wind construction – which is a 3-5 year prospect – but also in the hundreds of operational jobs, which have a 30-year lifetime. People who live in coastal communities can work on offshore wind farms, which is a great opportunity in those regions.

LEE Is it possible that a regional turbine manufacturing hub in Victoria, say, could supply offshore wind projects in other states?

TOME It’s a good question, and one that I would broaden by adding that there is an opportunity for secondary steel to be produced in Australia for offshore projects. It depends on what types of support schemes and targets are rolled out across Australia and whether we can attract OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to set up factories to build turbines, blades or towers here.

It will take a lot to get them to do so, however. There is a proposal to use the Port of Hastings in Victoria
as a manufacturing hub, with certain items to be assembled in the area.

Success will take a lot of convincing and many policies and targets, stretching over many years. If we do not have clear support schemes spanning several years, OEMs will not be attracted to the Australian market.

DAWSON We are reliant on overseas supply chains. We have abundant solar, a strong wind resource and vast reserves of natural gas – everything we need for the renewable energy transition. But we need the expertise and the equipment that generates electricity.

Almost all our solar panels, for instance, come from China. We have no utility-scale domestic manufacturing capability. If there were to be an issue with bringing in solar panels from China, the solar projects in development at this stage would stall completely.

Ultimately, energy security will be very expensive and it would take a long time to build domestic manufacturing capability. It is, nonetheless, something we should be thinking about. We need to be more self-sufficient in this regard.

MIRJAM TOME

“There is a great opportunity for local communities to get long-lasting jobs not just in offshore wind construction – which is a 3-5 year prospect – but also in the hundreds of operational jobs, which have a 30-year lifetime.”

MIRJAM TOME SKYBORN RENEWABLES

DAVISON It seems to be an irony that moving to generation of power from sources that are abundant – the sun and wind – would make Australia more dependent on global supply lines. Is the infrastructure required for renewables generation, transmission and storage really a different story from what we need for a fossil fuel energy system? Would it be possible for the government to act when it knows we are going to need a certain number of towers, electrolysers or synchronised condensers – perhaps by putting down a deposit, as a country, to support investment in decarbonisation?

ANJUM But this would require policy that is set out to 2050. There will be eight or nine federal elections between now and then.

VANSTONE Private industry and government both have a role to play and need to work together. We need to create the right framework to drive change and investment.

STUART On a positive note, there is really good momentum in this space and we are hungry for more. There is support for what the safeguard mechanism is trying to do. But we need to ask what else the government can be doing to provide certainty for equity and debt investments.

VANSTONE Investors will be much more willing if there is certainty.