He had been taught the greenhouse effect during his schooling and university studies, but was taken aback by the seemingly defeatist attitude he encountered at the Conference of the Parties.

"The thing that struck me was the talk about adaptation - that climate change was impossible to avoid," Mr Titchen said.

"I found that a bit shocking. We're up to the 25th Conference of the Parties this year - 19 years later - and there's still sometimes a lack of clarity as to what our objective is."

He later became the managing director of Goldwind Australia, developer of the 48-turbine, 148 megawatt Cattle Hill Wind Farm in the Central Highlands.

The project was developed to help Tasmania reach 100 per cent self-sufficiency in power production should Basslink fail again. The state is above 90 per cent now, using wind, solar and hydro resources.

But the wind farm's future role could go well beyond Tasmania.

As the need to act on climate change grows more urgent, Tasmania will be needed to supply energy to the mainland as coal-fired power stations increasingly close down. This will be met through the Battery of the Nation project, dependent on a second interconnector - Marinus Link.

Mr Titchen said this was essential as Australia transitioned away from fossil fuels - and it needed to happen sooner rather than later if the country was to meet its Paris targets.

"That's a substantial change. The world is going to need to adapt now," he said.

"When we talk about if there's enough time with Battery of the Nation, we just need to be urgent about it. We need to manage the power system so it meets the needs of the community, but the backdrop is becoming more and more problematic.

"It's intangible when scientists are forecasting the future based on science. We can't afford to wait 20, 30, 50 years before we get a direct experience of what the problem is before we act.

GAUGE ON CLIMATE: THE EXAMINER LOOKS INTO CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION:

"We will have locked in even more damage."

The substation and transmission line linking Cattle Hill to TasNetworks has been finished, and seven of the 48 turbines are up. The remainder will be installed by the end of the year, weather permitting, transported to the site from Bell Bay.

It will add more energy resources available for hydro storage, providing enough power for 63,500 homes.

Last week, workers started pouring 700 cubic metres of concrete for each of the 31 turbine foundations at Granville Harbour.

The substation is complete and, from September, the first turbine should be fully installed as equipment makes the long journey from Burnie to Tullah, then Queenstown, and finally up to Zeehan.

The 112 megawatt wind farm is expected to be finished by May next year, providing power for 46,000 homes.

Like with Cattle Hill, Granville Harbour was approved without the need for the second interconnector, with its primary focus on self-sufficiency in Tasmania. The power generated goes to Hydro Tasmania, which determines how it's dispatched.

Project director Lyndon Frearson has managed the development of renewable energy in Australia and the Pacific, gaining a detailed insight into how it fits into the energy mix.

He said adding further wind and solar needed to be carefully considered.

"My view as an engineer is that it is absolutely critical that we have cautious and considered engagement around all the options available to us," Mr Frearson said.

"To not be actively considering climate change would seem to be a foolish approach to how you manage systems.

"It's important to understand that, for 100 to 150 years, the energy sector was built on three rules: bigger was better for economies of scale, it was cheaper to build today than tomorrow because concrete and labour costs were going up, and operational costs were generally at least 50 per cent of the life cycle cost of the asset.

"What you see with renewable projects is that bigger isn't always better. They are modular and scalable, they can be placed in different areas that are appropriate for the resource and environment."

Granville Harbour and Cattle Hill will almost certainly not be the last wind farms to be constructed in Tasmania, despite the opposition to the Robbins Island proposal.

Mr Frearson said the industry was increasingly recognising the potential of Tasmania.

"There are a number of locations around Tasmania that have wind resources similar to what we have at Granville Harbour," he said.

"There are plenty of farming areas that have that wind resource, it just waits to be seen how that relates to access to the network. Obviously there are develops running around looking into this.

"Quite a number of companies are looking at opportunities within the Tasmanian market. Some are based on existing opportunities, some are based on future outcomes from Marinus."