Page 1403 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 6 May 2015
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MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
Dr BOURKE: Minister, how will the renewable energy industry development strategy help the ACT benefit economically from its efforts to help tackle climate change?
Mr CORBELL: I thank Dr Bourke for his supplementary question. Last week I was very pleased to launch and unveil the ACT’s renewable energy industry development strategy. This strategy is designed to drive investment in this very important part of the innovation economy. Over the last five years renewable energy jobs in the ACT have grown by 400 per cent, and we want to grow those jobs further. That is why I have released this strategy.
Our city has enormous strengths in renewable energy, innovation and research, whether it is the research undertaken at the ANU, the new renewable energy skills training centre being developed at CIT, or the spin-off and start-up companies like Windlab and others that are leveraging the opportunities from being in a jurisdiction that supports renewable energy.
I was very pleased to see a range of very significant corporate names lend their support to this strategy last week—companies such as Siemens and General Electric, ActewAGL; institutions like the ANU, CIT and the University of Canberra; venture capital firms like Australian Capital Ventures; and, of course, large-scale renewable wind energy suppliers like Vestas, as well as the government partners who are delivering renewable energy projects for us on the ground—companies like Neoen, RES, Solar Choice, Windlab, Zhenfa and FRV. All of these companies are lending their support to this industry development strategy, and that bodes very well for growth in jobs, growth in innovation and growth in investment as we seek to make Canberra a centre for renewable energy excellence.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Minister, can you tell us more about the expression of interest process you launched today for up to 50 megawatts of new generation solar power and how this will help the ACT in its efforts to tackle climate change.
MR CORBELL: I thank Dr Bourke for his supplementary. The expression of interest process that I announced today is about looking at how we can deliver 50 megawatts of large-scale solar generation with storage capacity so that we can improve the security and reliability of supply as part of our 90 per cent renewable energy target. It is also about how we can leverage opportunities for innovation and jobs growth in our city.
The expression of interest process will invite industry to come forward to government and tell us what proposals they are looking at, what opportunities they believe exist to deliver large-scale solar with storage. Fifty megawatts is a significant commitment on the part of the government. That is more than double the size of the Royalla solar farm. To have it with storage will mean that we can dispatch electricity even when the sun is not shining, even when it is not a productive day or, most obviously, of course, when it is night-time.
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