ABC Statewide Drive Victoria interview with Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen

PRUE BENTLEY: Just off the Warrnambool coastline, as Louise was mentioning, the Southern Ocean Offshore Wind Zone, which was announced a little earlier this year, is a step closer to having a project being built. The federal Climate Change Minister has just offered a feasibility licence to the companies behind what is called the Spinifex Offshore Wind Farm, and that includes Alinta Energy and Parkwind. The Minister joins me now. Chris Bowen, welcome to Drive.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks Prue, good to be with you.

PRUE BENTLEY: What is a feasibility licence?

CHRIS BOWEN: So, it's a licence to take it to the next step, to keep checking to see whether offshore wind can work in that particular area and how it will best work. It's a preliminary decision I've made today and announced today to issue a licence to Spinifex that is subject now to 60 days’ worth of consultation with First Nations traditional owners in the area. And a feasibility licence is, if you like, stage two. I've declared zone feasibility licence is stage two and stage three will be commercial licence, and stage four is environmental approvals. And all this has to happen before we get offshore wind up and running, particularly in the Southern Ocean region.

PRUE BENTLEY: So, you're saying they've got 60 days to submit their feasibility, is that right?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, not quite 60 days now. So, I've issued a preliminary decision to issue them a feasibility licence, which means that they are now, if you like, the preferred tenderer going forward to build the offshore wind farm. I should say this is an offshore wind farm, which is about just over 200 square kilometres, so a lot smaller than the whole zone. A lot of people had different views about the zone, pro and for and against and different concerns. But 200 square kilometres. But still very big in terms of energy, more than a gigawatt, that's enough for 650,000 homes. About 10 per cent of Victoria's energy needs could be catered for just with this one wind farm.

PRUE BENTLEY: My understanding is, though, that the wind farm will be set up to largely supply the Portland smelter. Is that still the case?

CHRIS BOWEN: They're certainly in discussions with Portland smelter and we'll continue. And that's a good thing, because Portland smelter is a very important employer in regional Victoria and, you know, they've got to get their energy from somewhere. And increasingly, smelters, who are very, very big energy users, will need to show consumers and insurers and financiers that they have a renewable energy source, and it needs to be constant. And offshore wind is constant. Some people say, well, why would you do offshore wind? We've got all the room onshore. Everything has its place, but offshore wind, wind on the oceans is very consistent. It's always windy and that's very important for somewhere like the Portland smelter.

PRUE BENTLEY: So, if that is the case, would any of that energy also be made for domestic use?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, that is domestic.

PRUE BENTLEY: Well, I mean apart from, sorry, other than industrial use, I guess.

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, yeah, I mean we're all one grid, right. So, it's not like we have a separate grid for the smelters or for industry and housing. It's all one system. And indeed, everything between Tasmania and north of Queensland and the western border of South Australia is connected in one grid. Yes, but this would provide enough energy for several things. I think the smelter would be an important part of it potentially, though.

PRUE BENTLEY: When do you expect this project to be built or to commence building if indeed all of the next steps are approved?

CHRIS BOWEN: Some way to go yet. We're talking about early 2030s I think, before we get power. This is not going to happen today or tomorrow or next year because we get it right. We move through every stage very carefully. There's sensitive environmental areas. We're building an industry from scratch. Offshore wind has existed around the world for more than 30 years in Europe, but this is brand new for Australia. We're catching up with the rest of the world, but we've got to get it right. There's a lot of work to do.

PRUE BENTLEY: Minister, there is still some community concern about this project. Will you be requiring the use of local researchers, for example, as the feasibility and environmental effects statements are drawn up?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, the proponent will have to go through environmental approvals quite separate to any approvals I give. They will have to provide very high-quality studies, including experts in the local ecosystem, to the federal Environment Minister for approval. That's quite independent, quite rigorous and quite onerous. And yes, local knowledge will be part of that. Separately, I will issue a feasibility licence, a final feasibility licence and then a commercial licence if I'm satisfied all the criteria are met. And it is quite a rigorous process that we apply.

PRUE BENTLEY: Just on another matter, which is the one we were speaking with the Marine Conservation Society about just moments before you joined us Mr Bowen, the international data collection company TGS has announced today its pulled its application for seismic blasting in the Otway Basin. What do you make of that?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, I heard your report and I've seen that reported earlier today. It's not in my portfolio, but obviously I understand people's concerns and I understand why people have been making the case that they have. So, again, not an area, which I'm a decision maker on, but a very sensitive part of the country, and a decision has been made on that basis.

PRUE BENTLEY: Is it a win for environmentalists?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, environmentalists have been campaigning for it, so I guess. I heard somebody say it was a win on your show, but as I said, not directly in my portfolio. And I will say the feasibility licences for offshore wind require a very, very different form of testing. There is seismic testing, but it's very, very much lighter, much less environmentally concerning than the big seismic testing that people are concerned about.

PRUE BENTLEY: Your government has very squarely put their support behind further gas exploration and gas as a transitional fuel for Australia. Could these sorts of developments have an impact on the future development of domestic gas supplies?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, I think there's plenty of proposals around the mainland of Australia for gas. Now, let me just say quickly about gas. I understand people's concerns and, you know, the previous government had a gas-led recovery, which was nonsense, very different to our policy. Our policy is to support gas as a peaking and firming mechanism for renewables. So, in addition to renewables, the benefit of gas for the system is it's very flexible. We can turn a gas-fired power station off and back on again when we need it. You can't do that with coal, you can't do that with nuclear. And when a gas-fired power station is sitting there not turned on, it's got zero emissions. If we do have to have a gas-fired power station turned on because we don't quite have enough renewables in the system, it can be on for a short time, not spewing emissions into the air when we don't need it, which is the case for coal and would be the case with nuclear, because you can't turn nuclear off. So, it would just be sitting in the system when even when we don't need it. Gas is not like that. There's also 5 million Australian homes that use gas for home heating. And despite all our efforts to electrify it, that will remain the case for some time. So, we do need gas in the system. And people who say gas is the answer are wrong. And people who say gas has no role to play are wrong. It's actually right in the middle - it's got a role to play. And as we get to 82 per cent renewables, having gas as the backup just there in case we need it is a very sensible and prudent form of planning for energy system.

PRUE BENTLEY: Chris Bowen, who is with me, he's the federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Just on the issue of gas, we have some proponents for biomass energy in our listening area, and they would like to know what sort of role that will play and why it hasn't been promoted more by your government.

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, biogas does have a role to play going forward. I think your proponents of biogas could expect it to come up in our upcoming energy sector plan. So, we have six sector plans about decarbonisation from 2030 onwards, including resources and energy. I think they'll see biogas and other forms of replacement low-carbon liquid fuels, as well as biogas, be referred to there. It's got a role to play. Electrification has got a role to play. Biogas has a role to play. All these things have a role to play in our substantial decarbonisation journey.

PRUE BENTLEY: And Chris Bowen, I know this is not under your remit, but you as a member of the government, I'm sure, are watching the events unfolding in the Middle East at the moment. We are hearing that there could be soon a breakthrough on a potential ceasefire in Israel and Southern Lebanon. How important, if that is correct, how important would that be to those developments in the Middle East?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, very, very important, but of course, we want to see a ceasefire not just in Lebanon but in Gaza as well. But of course, we're deeply concerned about the situation in Southern Lebanon. There are many Australians who spend time in Lebanon, but we're also concerned about the general situation in Lebanon. But of course, we've consistently called for a ceasefire in the entire dispute - in Gaza and in Lebanon.

PRUE BENTLEY: Chris Bowen, thanks for your time.

CHRIS BOWEN: Pleasure. Good to talk to you, Prue.