The Project Marinus funding deal has put the North-West in pole position to become Tasmania's first official renewable energy zone.
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The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has earmarked the North-West, North-East and Central Highlands to be considered as potential renewable energy zones, based on their extensive wind resources.
AEMO strongly supports the construction of the proposed $3.8 billion Marinus Link electricity interconnector project between Australia and Victoria as part of nation's shift from coal-fired power.
Marinus would "hook up" with Tasmania at Heybridge, near Burnie.
Tasmanian Energy Minister Guy Barnett has revealed the North-West will be the "first region to be explored in detail to host the state's first renewable energy zone".
``The development of a REZ is all about economies of scale, being able to benefit from existing energy resources and established grid infrastructure close by to unlock new energy at lower cost, while also considering environmental, heritage and other important values."
He said the recent Marinus funding deal involving the federal government's Rewiring the Nation program, the two state governments and the federal government was an important consideration in choosing the first renewable energy zone.
"This agreement minimises the shared network costs for the North-West Transmission Developments for Tasmanian customers and, in doing so, will deliver an additional 1200MW of generation hosting capacity that a REZ can tap into," Mr Barnett said.
"A first REZ in the North-West would provide new generation to coincide with the commissioning of the first Marinus cable and would deliver the generation needed to develop an export scale hydrogen sector and other future industries around the start of the next decade.
"Before that, however, the next steps will require understanding how it can be done well from a local perspective and what communities expect in the way of benefits if they are to host a REZ."
Sean Ford
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
