THE Granville Harbour wind farm is one of a ‘‘mountain’’ of national wind projects requiring finance and investor confidence, says Australian Wind Alliance national co-ordinator Andrew Bray.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The project, West Coast Wind, requires a power purchase agreement and finance to start generating energy.
The farm was the subject of a pitch by Braddon Liberal MHA Adam Brooks to the newly established Tasmanian cabinet energy sub-committee.
Mr Bray said the main hurdle preventing wind developments from getting off the ground was receiving finance.
‘‘The confidence of investors has certainly been hit in recent years,’’ he said.
Mr Bray said the federal government needed to make a solid commitment to renewable energy policy and explain a future for renewables past 2020 in order to stimulate investment in wind.
‘‘Investors need certainty in knowing both sides of politics will support renewables into the future and move away from sources of energy generation such as coal,’’ he said.
‘‘The markets are adjusting to the situation at the moment and they need as much federal government policy as possible to help people start to invest again.’’
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that his government is committed to supporting a mix of renewable energy.
In December, he reversed former prime minister Tony Abbott’s decision to prevent the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from investing in new wind projects.
Franklin Greens MHA Rosalie Woodruff said the state government should set up an independent body, RenewTAS, to help developers with project approvals, feed-in tariffs and reverse auctions, designed to lock in low, clean energy prices.
The state government had said that it is looking at a range of renewable energy generation options to secure energy security for Tasmania.