Tasmania calls for new renewable generation – and load – as first REZ takes shape

Tasmania’s Liberal government has begun sounding out the market for new large-scale renewable energy and storage projects of 10MW or more, as well as for existing and new businesses seeking renewable electrical loads of 1MW or more.

State energy minister Guy Barnett on Wednesday launched a Register of Interest process to kick-start new development, including green hydrogen and green manufacturing, and to identify a pipeline of development opportunities in onshore and offshore wind, solar, and battery storage.

Barnett says the ROI, which is open from June 15 until July 12, is part of Tasmania’s Renewable Energy Coordination Framework and will assist in the identification of the island state’s first Renewable Energy Zone.

Tasmania is already effectively 100 per cent renewable thanks to its well established hydropower resource, but has set a Renewable Energy Target (TRET) of 200% by 2040, with plans to export excess renewables to the Australian mainland.

Already, the state has a number of major new onshore wind projects and transmission upgrades in its development pipeline, as well as plans for a new undersea cable, Marinus Link, to support increased renewable energy exports.

In light of this existing pipeline, the government says the ROI will give consideration to maintaining existing energy system security and reliability, and support the matching of new generation and load to enable a smooth transition to renewables.

“In seeking to build a comprehensive profile of the project development pipeline for renewables in Tasmania, we encourage renewable electricity generation projects (including offshore developments) of 10MW or greater and industry/businesses with new or increased electrical loads of 1MW or greater to ‘register their interest’ to inform sustainable and coordinated growth of Tasmania’s renewable energy sector,” a statement says.

“At such an unprecedented time of growth for our state’s renewable energy sector, this coordinated approach not only provides for a more efficient and effective enabler of progress towards the TRET but will help to maximise benefits to Tasmanians including jobs, training, and increased investment in regional areas,” the ROI documents add.

The ROI documents say that participants can provide details for any combination of wind, solar, battery storage or “other technology” on the generation side, and up to three projects of the same technology type. For energy users, ROIs can be made for existing or new electrical load.

“The government seeks to lead growth in renewable development to areas determined most optimal but also based on a range of land use, heritage and other criteria -including values determined by communities and regions that are impacted,” the documents say.

“A priority will be to ensure early engagement and communication with the public on the scale, timing, and investment in the state of new and proposed large energy users and renewable energy projects.”

Those interested can click here to take the ROI survey, or sign up here to attend the ROI webinar on June 24 at 10am.