THE decision by the would-be developer of a $10 billion Victorian offshore wind farm, Blue Float Energy, to withdraw from its 2GW Gippsland project because its major shareholder, Quantum Capital, said it was no longer commercially viable, must have sent shivers down Chris Bowen’s spine.
An article by the ABC quoted Bruce Mountain, director of Victoria University’s Victoria Energy Policy Centre, saying the fact an operator was pulling out without trying to sell their assets was a sign that things were off track.
But, if the Minister for Climate Change and Energy was concerned, he didn’t show it while being peppered with questions about the government’s renewable energy targets and the cost of power in parliament last week.
In fact, he was happy to engage on the subject, quoting a report by the Australian Market Commission, which said “… residential electricity prices in the National Electricity Market (NEM) could be around 13% lower in 10 years’ time if renewable energy and infrastructure development proceed as expected”.
He went on to say that the Australian Energy Market Operator “confirms that renewable energy, connected by transmission and distribution, firmed with storage and backed up by gas-powered generation, is the lowest-cost way to supply electricity to homes and businesses as Australia transitions to a net zero economy”, which is exactly the plan for Australia.
But there was a sneaky little ‘IF’ in there… “if renewable energy and infrastructure development proceed as expected”.
So, how are we going, bearing in mind that 22% of Victoria’s generating capacity, at Yallourn, will be turned off in mid-2028, a decision that was underscored recently by its owners EnergyAustralia and confirmed by the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, in a statement in March this year?
And a further 30% at Loy Yang A is due to be shut down in 2035, only 10 years from now.
How are we going? We don’t know.
In the 2000-word statement to the party faithful last week, Premier Jacinta Allan made no mention of what must certainly be the most important structural shift in the state’s and the nation’s history. It was all about working from home and leading the nation in the treaty stakes.
But we started to see the first sign of the State Government being prepared to press the panic button last Thursday when it rammed through the ‘National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill 2025’ in an hour and a half, which among other things will see farming individuals fined $12,000 and companies fined $48,000 if they refuse government access to their properties for the transmission line rollout.
“In my 10 or 11 years in this place I have never seen a Bill 160 pages long with a shorter second-reading speech. It is just a disgrace,” said Danny O’Brien MP.
So, the pressure is on, and we’re going to see the fallout from governments at both the State and Federal level falling behind in the rollout of their new energy plan.
The drive to develop the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal at the Port of Hastings, and the resulting dredging on Western Port, will be the next cab off the rank and don’t expect the deferential response the project got from the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek last time.
Is it too much to ask for an honest progress report on the renewable energy rollout plan ahead of the next State election? I guess that would be a ‘yes’.
