From recent headlines you’d think country Australia—and the politicians who represent it—hate renewables and are doing all in their power to stop their spread.
You don’t have to look far to get that impression. Apart from grass roots groups like Country Guardian campaigning against wind farms, National Party politicians are vowing to scrap climate change laws and stop clean energy projects if they get back into power.
I can understand why given the heavy burden net zero is placing on regions. Last year regional Australia contributed 36% of the country’s total electricity generation from renewables, and it saw 14 large scale solar projects and 6 wind projects commissioned in just 12 months.
That’s just the start. Consultancy firm Macromonitor says regional projects for wind, solar & transmission facilities—all copper heavy of course—will see construction worth $23B over the next 2 years, double the rate of work in capital cities.
And that hectic pace may pale if we’re to hit net zero by 2050. That benchmark will require an estimated $160B of investment in new generation, storage and transmission infrastructure. And much of it will be in country Australia.
Obviously nothing is going to realistically stop the momentum and despite what the headlines might imply, most country people also support it. The Lowy Institute found almost two-thirds of regional Australians back federal Labor’s target of 82% renewables by 2030 and a CSIRO survey found a similar rate.
Renewables are clearly good news for the country, bringing investment, jobs, building, innovation, education and, crucially, people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said regional Australia’s population has jumped to 9.91M people , a 6.3% increase since 2019, and while a lot of factors are at play clean energy clearly had a large part in driving the country’s new dynamism.
But regional critics of renewables have a point. A recent report by the Regional Australia Institute said residents often feel left out of top down decisions about where energy projects should go, complaining they adversely impact land use, agriculture and lifestyle. They also say its happening too fast.
We need to make sure that the political and economic decisions about energy also include real consultation with country people and adapt to their concerns. Renewables are here to stay, and clearly bring benefits to both capital cities and country areas, but we need to make sure we do it together.
Cheers, John Fennell
