A representative of some of the most power-consumptive industries in the state says she is in favour of building the $3.8 billion project to construct more electric links to the mainland.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone chief executive officer Susie Bower said the Marinus Link project would allow Tasmania to attract more industries to the state.
"We are coming from the hydrogen perspective, where we have four major players setting up to 1000 megawatt plants ... and in Tasmania, we have about 3000 megawatts [total generating capacity]," she said.
"From a development point of view, if we want all of those players in Tasmania, then Marinus is a no-brainer - we have to go ahead with it."
Her comments followed the release of the Australian Energy Market Operator's Integrated System Plan, which called on governments to prioritise approval of Marinus Link in order to help the market deal with the closure of coal generation on the mainland.
The Marinus Link is a project of TasNetworks and is being championed by the state government.
If progressed, it would see the construction of two new 750MW-capacity undersea cables connecting the state to the mainland. Tasmania's existing Basslink cable has a capacity of about 400 MW.
Hydro Tasmania acting chief executive Ian Brooksbank said he welcomed AEMO's recognition that the interconnector would provide improved access to Tasmania's energy resources, including deep storages and help to reduce the scale of investment needed as mainland coal plants phase out.
"Tasmania has exactly what is needed - cost-effective clean energy backed by long-duration storage, and Marinus Link will unlock that," he said.
"Battery of the Nation and Marinus Link will give Tasmanians access to the lowest possible power prices, lock in our energy security and create economic benefits through jobs and regional investment."
But not everybody was as supportive.
Goanna Energy principal consultant Marc White was sceptical over assurances that Marinus would not affect Tasmanian energy prices.
"Hydro claims that Tasmanian consumers won't pay higher prices as a result of Marinus. Our question would be how can they say that when the funding arrangements aren't even agreed?"
He has also previously expressed concern that opening such a large connection to the mainland would tend to result in Tasmanian prices correlating more strongly with prices in the national energy market.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner