Renewable energies

Many opportunities when investing in or using renewable

Tasmania is Australia’s leader in renewable energy and offers a compelling location for forward-thinking investors who either wish to invest in the renewable energy generation sector or achieve real sustainability targets through renewable energy use and generation. Tasmania is also open for business to new energy retailers who can effectively add a new level of competition for consumers.

Tasmania offers a strong and cost-competitive alternative for intensive energy-based operations wishing to establish themselves in an environmentally sustainable location.

Tasmania is 100 per cent self-sufficient in renewable electricity generation, making it one of a handful of places around the world to have achieved this. Tasmania has been net zero six out of the last seven years, and set a goal to double its capacity, to reach 200 per cent by 2040.

As a result, the emissions associated with grid purchased electricity are the lowest of any Australian state or territory. This emissions factor can be used for National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) purposes by businesses and may provide an advantage in sustainability reporting for businesses operating in Tasmania.

The latest Clean Energy Australia report released by the Clean Energy Council of Australia highlights that the state of Tasmania is significantly more advanced in terms of renewable energy penetration (over 100 per cent) than other states, with the next closest being South Australia (at 60 per cent) followed by Victoria (at 28 per cent).

Tasmania has been a forerunner in the development of renewable energy generation with over 100 years of continued investment in renewable energy infrastructure and technology. Years of experience have helped Tasmania to develop an unmatched level of renewable energy skill and expertise among our engineers and technicians.

Tasmania is in the enviable position of having a supply of renewable energy that exceeds the state’s energy demands. This renewable energy is predominantly from Tasmania’s extensive hydro generation and storage schemes, but also with significant contributions from Tasmanian wind farms.

Tasmania benefits from having a significant water resource (27 per cent of the nation’s total freshwater dam storage capacity and just one per cent of Australia’s land area1), and a significant wind resource with the state being perfectly situated to capture the prevailing westerly winds from the ‘roaring forties’.

Tasmanian electricity generation comprises hydro-electric, gas-fired generation, wind and embedded generators. In 2019–20, just under 90 per cent of electricity generated was from hydro-electric systems, with around 10 per cent accounted for by wind generation. Gas-fired generation’s share of total electricity generation declined from over four per cent in 2018–19 to less than one per cent in 2019–202.

There is also a growing number of generators embedded in the distribution network, with small scale solar photovoltaic generation providing approximately one per cent of Tasmania’s electricity. Additionally, Tasmania has the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions of any Australian state or territory. Our latest figures show that Tasmania has reduced its emissions by 108.6 per cent from 1990 levels.

Tasmania also has the benefit of importing and exporting electricity via the Basslink interconnector with Tasmania’s renewable energy supply making an important contribution to meeting peak demand levels interstate.

Tasmania is well placed to increase its renewable energy supply. In response to identified and forecasted electricity demand across Australia, work is currently underway on a number of capacity building projects.

These include Project Marinus – a proposed second Bass Strait interconnector, Tasmania as the Battery of the Nation project and the opportunities within the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Integrated System Plan (ISP) to fill the gap that the retirement of ageing coal-fired power stations on the Australian mainland will create. Critical underwater engineering surveys for Marinus Link are currently underway across Bass Strait as technical processes to sensitively design and build this national priority infrastructure continue at pace.