Sender: Australian Wind Alliance
14th October 2015
Submission to Victoria’s
Renewable Energy Roadmap
The Australian Wind Alliance is a not for profit community advocacy group for wind power.
We have over 500 financial members nationally, 230 of whom live in Victoria. Our members
include farmers, wind workers, regional businesses, community groups and individuals.
We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide input into the Victorian Government’s
Renewable Energy Roadmap which is an important and responsible first step to plan the
state’s renewable energy future over the medium term for the sake of our regions, our
economy and our environment.
We welcome the State Government’s constructive support for wind farm projects in the
winding back of some of the laws stifling their development and the decision to support new
wind farms through a government power purchase scheme.
The recent change of federal leadership to Malcolm Turnbull has provided some hope
among our supporters that the conditions are now right for the federal and state
governments and wind developers to act more cooperatively to deliver benefits for local
communities through the rollout of new wind farms. The return to federal bipartisanship on
renewable energy creates the opportunity for the Victorian government to set strong
renewable energy goals that align with existing short term federal goals and drive ambition
beyond 2020.
One of the pressing issues facing Victoria’s energy sector is the need to transition away from
our ageing and heavily carbon-polluting brown coal infrastructure. As the cheapest source of
readily-deployable, large scale renewable energy, wind power is ideally placed to step into
this breach with the aid of strong policy support.
Wind farms provide growth in many rural and regional areas that are facing ageing and
often declining populations. They create a financial buffer for farmers against natural
disasters and fluctuating commodity prices and provide jobs, allowing families to stay and
contribute to their communities. They create incomes for wind farm hosts and workers that
would simply not be in those communities otherwise. Once built, they have no impact on
their environment for their 25 year lifespan, all the while providing clean energy for our
electricity-hungry state.
We urge the Victorian Government to set a legally-enforceable target of 30% of Victoria's
energy to be produced by renewables by 2020, rising to 50% by 2025.
Andrew Bray
National Coordinator
Australian Wind Alliance
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Goal-setting in context of Renewable Energy
Target
Victoria’s installed wind energy capacity currently stands at 1226 megawatts, including
Australia’s largest wind farm, the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm. Victoria has world class
wind resources and together with New South Wales is expected to compete for the lion’s
share of new wind farm projects built under the Renewable Energy Target (RET) out to
2020.
The revised RET of 33,000 gigawatt hours by 2020 is estimated to require 6,000 megawatts
of new generation capacity with approximately 5000 MW to come from wind farms1. Given
that Victoria already has 2765 megawatts of advanced proposed wind projects2, with large
projects such as the 312 MW Dundonnell project now proceeding through planning, an
estimate of 2000 MW of new wind farms by 2020 is reasonable.
Simply ensuring that Victoria participates in the build-out of new wind farms under the
Renewable Energy Target to 2020 will likely see wind energy’s share of total demand rise
from the current 7% to around 21%3. Ongoing wind farm construction of a further 2000 MW
between 2020 and 2025 would see wind energy account for 35% of Victoria’s demand by
2025. Note that this post-2020 build would require effective continuity of policy support
beyond the existing RET framework. Victoria would also benefit from the removal of ‘no­go
zones’ instituted by the Baillieu government which were not repealed by this government at
the time the 2km veto was reduced to 1km.
Given the significant role played by wind energy under existing policy settings
and the increasing competitiveness of large scale solar and battery technology
from 2020 onwards we see significant room for strong targets that set Victoria at
the head of the pack for renewable energy.
We urge the Victorian Government to set a legally-enforceable target of 30% of Victoria's
energy to be produced by renewables by 2020, rising to 50% by 2025.
We see these targets as paving the way for the achievement and surpassing of the federal
ALP’s ‘aspirational goal’ of 50% renewables by 2030.
Such targets would allow investment in new wind farms - delayed first in Victoria by the
Bailleu government and then federally by the Abbott government - to be unleashed. It
would also drive the further rollout of energy efficiency and other renewable technologies,
such as large scale solar photovoltaic and bioenergy projects and provide the additional
renewable capacity required to allow the responsible retirement of coal-fired plants.
Coal-fired power retirement
Victoria currently relies on Australia's oldest, most polluting portfolio of coal-fired power
plants. With the exception of Loy Yang B, all of Victoria’s coal­fired plants are operating well
beyond their 25 year design life, with the oldest plants still operating after more than 50
years. Even the most minimal national greenhouse gas reduction targets such as the current
1
Clean Energy Council estimate, presented to All-Energy Conference, October 2015
2015 Electricity Statement of Opportunities, AEMO, p20
3
See Appendix 1 ­ Projected growth of Victorian wind energy to 2025. Note that ‘behind the meter’ household
solar PV is not counted as generation but rather as reduction in demand.
2
2
targets of 26 - 28% reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels will require significant retirement of
the most polluting plants in the sector. At the moment this is Hazelwood Power Station
which emits 1.52 tons CO2e/MWh4.
These factors require that Victoria’s energy plans must include the orderly retirement of a
material proportion of our current generation fleet by 2025. The extra generation provided
by renewable sources under our suggested targets of 30% by 2020 and 50% by 2025 will,
with careful planning, supply the required generation to allow these retirements to take
place without disruption to Victoria’s energy security. For example, projected additional wind
generation alone of 12,801 gigawatt hours between now and 2025 (see Appendix 1)
compares favourably with total current output of Hazelwood of around 10,000 GWh.
Shifting in a more ambitious manner towards additional renewables also provides our
population with more affordable future power bills. Modelling for the Federal
government-initiated Warburton review last year showed shifting to a Federal RET of
41,000GWH renewables by 2020 would see electricity prices for users remain stable, while a
scenario of further renewables nationally would see power prices fall. With all the time lost
following the Abbott destabilisation of the RET, we need to make up for lost time and
encourage investment back in renewables.
Planning for a just transition for workers
The Renewable Energy Action Plan is an ideal instrument for mapping out a planned and
orderly transition to a greater share of renewable energy and an accompanying shift away
from coal-fired power. The Renewable Energy Jobs Fund will help with planning for
appropriate retraining for power workers in the coal-fired sector to prepare them for the
opportunities in the renewables sector. It can also help avoid power price crises and set us
up for a future that's less reliant on finite, polluting fossil fuels.
Looking after communities
An important part of the transition to greater use of wind power in Victoria will be
considering the impact on communities who host wind farms. AWA advocates for
responsible, consultative development, and we encourage wind developers to share financial
benefits of new projects as equitably as possible across host communities. This is a
commonsense way of increasing the equity of financial outcomes around wind farm projects.
Benefit sharing practices such as those followed at the Coonooer Bridge project in northern
Victoria have earned recognition for their decision to involve neighbours as well as wind
farm hosts in planning for the wind farm, and also in financial benefits. ‘Neighbour
agreements’ that remunerate immediate neighbours of wind farms are becoming more
commonplace and we think they should be encouraged in the Victorian context. This
arrangement is best negotiated on a community-by-community basis so we recommend that
this be in form of guidelines rather than regulation.
4
http://aemo.com.au/electricity/settlements/carbon-dioxide-equivalent-intensity-index
3
Community energy projects (5.1)
Community ownership of wind projects also needs to be supported as these models have
been a major contributor to the success of wind developments in many European nations.
Government support for two community energy projects in Newstead and the Macedon
Ranges is welcomed and we urge you to move as quickly as possible towards preparing your
how-to guide on developing community renewables projects.
We welcome the government’s intention to consider exempting community­owned projects
from the ‘no­go zones’ for wind farms instituted by the previous government.
Victorian Renewable Energy Advocate (6.3)
We have had positive experience working with the NSW Renewable Energy Advocate, Amy
Kean. We believe hers is an important role that has actively improved that state’s
renewables potential and been successful in improving the policy environment for renewable
energy and facilitating effective developments. We encourage you to pursue your proposal
to appoint a Victorian Renewable Energy Advocate. This appointee can also ensure a
reinstated whole-of-government renewables facilitation is carried out effectively.
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APPENDIX 1 - Projected growth of Victorian wind
energy to 2025
Installed
Capacity
Current (2015)
To 2020
To 2025
Added (MW)
Total (MW)
2000
2000
1226
3226
5226
Capacity
Factor *
30%
33%
35%
GWh supplied
GWh added
3222
9326
16023
6104
6697
* Overall capacity factor increases with a higher proportion of more efficient newer projects
Total Demand **
2014/15
2017/18
2019/20 (est)
2024/25
GWh
42635
43963
44822
45680
Demand supplied by wind
8%
21%
35%
** Detailed Summary of Electricity Forecasts 2015, AEMO, p67. NB: This includes demand
reduction from increasing solar PV penetration.
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