The chief executive of one of Australia’s biggest electricity suppliers has cast doubt on the prospects of offshore wind to help reach longer-term climate goals and warned the slow pace of the clean energy rollout could delay the closure of the huge Eraring coal power station.
The comments from Origin Energy’s Frank Calabria come after German renewables giant RWE ditched its multibillion-dollar offshore wind project in Victoria’s Gippsland region, citing high costs, regulatory uncertainty and a lack of commercial viability.
Calabria, whose company recently put its own $8 billion Navigator North project in Gippsland on ice, said offshore wind was an expensive source of energy and its development would involve “a big commitment” from the Victorian government.
“It’s a tough industry ... it would require a lot of support to create an offshore wind industry,” Calabria said, following the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. “It has got some bigger hurdles to overcome and a bigger commitment needed for that to actually become a reality.”
RWE has ceased development of its two-gigawatt Kent Offshore Wind Project in Gippsland, which is widely considered the most likely location for viable offshore wind projects in Australia after a spate of recent project collapses in NSW and Tasmania.
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