Described as incredibly rich in renewable assets, the New England region has the potential to attract investment of between five and eight billion dollars up to 2020. The challenge, however, is how to keep the benefits from renewable energy investment in the region; creating employment, supplying, training and service opportunities for regional energy projects.
This, along with a number of other challenges facing the renewable energy industry, was discussed at the Renewable Energy Round Table Forum on Friday, June 15 at the Armidale Ex-Services Club.
Paul Cruickshank, Renewable Energy Coordinator from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, who hosted the forum, invited business people, agencies and developers who are able to look at strategies to keep investment in the region.
“Our department is going to fund a business plan that will look at this issue in terms of training for future skills, getting businesses set up to do the construction and maintenance of the very sophisticated technical work that this investment will require, catering, accommodation and all the other things that a lot of the regions, particularly in South East Queensland, have struggled with,” said Paul.
“Although there is a huge amount of money being spent, all the benefits are flowing outside the region and the local towns are actually suffering as a result of unplanned development; we want to avoid this.
“This is a good new industry, let’s get in on the front foot, this is what the forum is all about.”
A renewable project that is gaining momentum in the region is the establishment of the first community owned wind farm.
“This project is more sophisticated in terms of a large wind project,” said Paul.
“We don’t have the problems that they are getting in the south of Victoria where you have smaller properties with wind farms.
“People understandably get a bit upset when there is a 100 metre turbine along their back fence. Here we are looking at very large sheep properties of 2000 and 3000 acres where these farmers will get around $10,000 a year per turbine; so it is a genuine income. They can still keep their same cropping or grazing regime.
A study by New England Wind, the consortium behind the community wind farm, conducted a survey of well over 2000 people, with 90 per cent interviewed strongly in favour of renewable energy.
“The project has to be well sited and it has to be with the agreement of landholders,” said Paul.
“This is what the State Government is all about. We have a strong policy of 20 per cent renewable by 2020 and we want to do that by making sure we have the investment in the right place, with the agreement of the community.”
“There are five major wind projects approved by the NSW Government for the New England, with finance still to be raised. Negotiations for a power purchase agreement to sell that power and whether the grid is capable of taking that power are all still to be finalised.
“We are lucky in the New England to have a grid that takes the big lines that can cope,” said Paul.
“If these projects go to plan, we should have 600 turbines up and running by 2018.”
Story: Jo Harrison
