“What’s in it for us?” Protesters deliver important message as Marinus Link heralds new energy dawn

Dozens of local residents and farmers have gathered in Devonport to protest against the development of Marinus Link and its associated onshore transmission upgrades in Tasmania’s north west – and in the hope of getting an audience with state energy minister, Nick Duigan.

The “Power Gathering” outside the 8th Annual Energy Development Conference on Tuesday was organised by Tas Power Democracy Inc. as a “peaceful, respectful meeting” for residents to express their “deep concern and opposition” to the state’s energy plans.

These concerns include not only the environmental damage and cost to taxpayers and energy consumers of the state’s roughly 5 gigawatt (GW) pipeline of renewable energy projects at various stages of the development pipeline, and the government’s handling of proposed developments.

Marinus Link –  a nearly 350 km transmission line that will connect the power grids of Tasmania and Victoria, via the Bass Strait – was first announced by the Coalition Turnbull government in 2017.

Since then, the huge project has blown out in cost – from two, 750 megawatt (MW) cables priced at $1.3 billion to a single 750 MW cable priced at more than $3.5 billion – and attracted its fair share of controversy and criticism. 

Much of the most vocal opposition to the project has played out on the Tasmanian side of the project, where environmental groups like the Bob Brown Foundation have described it as an “ecological and economic disaster” for the Island State.

Critics argue that the project – for which early works have now started – will raise electricity costs for Tasmanian consumers while paving the way for major new renewables and grid infrastructure projects that threaten local environment and ecosystems while benefitting mostly the mainland.

Kim Phillips-Haines, the principal petitioner at Tas Power Democracy, says the state government’s ongoing refusal to release an un-redacted version of the Project Marinus Whole-of-State Business Case is a major point of concern.

Locals are also concerned that preliminary works on Marinus Link and the associated new and upgraded transmission lines, substations and switching stations – the North West Transmission Developments (NWTD) – are going ahead despite legal challenges that are yet to be resolved.

Fourth-generation beef farmer Wade Rockliff, whose farm in Sheffield in the north-west is needed to host some of the new transmission lines, says one of the main gripes that he and other locals have is the lack of communication – and representation – from the state government.

“All we wanted to know was, if we’re making this sacrifice for the state, what’s in it for Tasmania? That’s all we wanted to know,” Rockliff tells Renew Economy.

“That’s part of the reason we’re here today. We’ve been trying to get the minister, Nick Duigan, and his predecessor, Guy Barnett, to come and speak to the community and speak to the people that are directly impacted by the NWTD, and they haven’t given us the time of day.”

Rockliff, and many others, have also questioned the cost to Tasmanian energy consumers of Marinus and the NWTD, as well as the cost to the environment of some of the bigger new wind projects that can be built once the supporting grid infrastructure is in place.

The perception, at least among this group of protesters, is that Tasmanian renewable energy resources are being exploited by foreign companies in the name of delivering cheaper power to the mainland.

“For us to justify the billions of dollars we’re going to spend, we’ve got to invite all these foreign companies to do untold environmental damage in Tasmania, so they can sell power into the national grid, and we’ll get a few crumbs back in Tasmania,” Rockliff says.

“Tasmanians are paying well over a billion dollars for all this infrastructure, and these foreign companies are getting free use of it to sell their power into the national grid and make a motza, and that’s … what grinds our gears.”

There is also a feeling that Tasmania – which has long been major renewables powered thanks to its well-established hydro power resources – does not need Marinus, and now will have to host a lot more wind and solar to justify its construction.

“We spent 100 years building a piece of infrastructure that we’re virtually ignoring for foreign-owned wind farms to come in,” Rockliff told Renew Economy.

“We don’t need this.”

Inside the energy conference, minister Duigan – who at last year’s conference appeared via video message as parliament dissolved ahead of a snap election – said it was “one of the great challenges” to communicate the benefits of Marinus Link to sceptical locals.

“It seems to be the central piece that people have problems with [is] this notion that we’re giving away our power, flogging off all our power to the mainland.

“It’s obviously not the case, but it is, you know, incumbent on me, as the minister, to set that record straight.

“Part of my job is to make sure that the information getting out to the public is some sort of representation of the truth, because at the centre of our next chapter, of course, is Project Marinus. It is what unlocks the next stage of Tasmania’s energy future,” Duigan said.

“Being an island off an island, it is fundamental to Tasmania’s future, and it remains central to our government’s energy agenda, so our renewable energy advantage gives Tasmania an extraordinary opportunity.

“As I have said, I think we are on the cusp of realising that, but it does require partnership.”

Paul Molnar, the director of major projects at Hydro Tasmania, says that far from sidelining the state’s famous hydro-power resource, Marinus Link is expected to give it a new lease on life – and a new purpose.

“Marinus Link …[is] the key to unlocking the maximum value from what we can do with our existing system,” Molnar told the conference.

“We’re already seeing this – hydro is already starting to operate in a new way that will only grow in the future. We’re seeing, increasingly, with the growth of solar, particularly on the mainland, periods where we’re able to import energy at … low and even negative prices.

“We’ve had periods of up to four months where we’ve imported on average at negative prices, that’s a great business to be in, and there’s only more and more opportunity coming as both the transition to more renewables occurs, and we get access to the market through more interconnection.

“So it’s this product of storage being able to take the low-cost surplus energy and storing it in our system and returning it back when there’s a shortfall, that’s what we’re talking about. We’re not talking about this concern … [that] we’re just going to send all our energy to the mainland and drain our lakes. That’s not what it’s about.”

Duigan says one of the more tangible benefits from Marinus will be the jobs and immediate economic uplift its construction will bring to the region. 

“People in the north west part of Tasmania are already being employed – that’s happening now,” he told the conference. 

“Businesses in the north west are already being contracted, and that’s happening now. Its contractors are already spending money and investing in the local community, and that’s happening now. 

“Community organisations are already receiving benefits through strong local partnerships, and as I say, that is happening now. 

“Nine out of the 11 contracts already assigned to local businesses to construct Marinus Link in Tasmania are businesses right here in the north-west part of the state … and those businesses are things like concretors, excavators, steel fabricators, builders, electricians, carpenters, amongst others. 

“So, again, good for the local economy, good for the North West more broadly, and of course across the state.”

Stephanie McGregor, the CEO of Marinus Link Proprietary Limited (MLPL) says that with early works already underway on the huge project, it’s time to shift from talk to action.

“Mariners Link will be built, and in fact it is being built,” McGregor told the conference.

“We have talked about our industry being the catalyst for prosperous, resilient, and sustainable regional economies. 

“Many in the communities are trusting our organisations and people to deliver on these promises. The responsibility is now becoming quite real, and it’s time to shift the conversation in our organisations and in this room.”

For its part, Marinus has proposed a three-tier community benefits model divided into immediate, enduring, and legacy, which includes clear expectations for our contractors as well to deliver on their own programs and their own investments in regions. 

A proposed $20 million legacy benefits program – which is currently in the consultation state – aims to deliver long-term value and benefits in the communities that are hosting the project infrastructure.

“Placing local communities in the driver’s and passenger seats is critical to delivery success,” says McGregor. 

“We can’t just have those communities on board. 

“Whether the opportunity before us creates a lasting prosperity depends on the choices we make now and the conversations all of us in this room have, and we commit to as a result of those engagements.

“While the infrastructure we build matters enormously, how we build it and what we leave behind – not just physically, but in the communities and the people of the areas that host this infrastructure – matters just as much, if not more.”

For the protesters outside the conference, consultation and the getting-on-board of community hearts and minds has fallen short. 

But Rockliff says he is open to a conversation with the government – and will gladly open his farm gate to the new transmission line if he can be convinced that Marinus and the NWTD will deliver benefits to his family, and to the region and the state. 

And if all else fails, and “it does go ahead and we’ve got foreign companies using the corridor through our farm, we want to be compensated. We want to be compensated really well,” he says.

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