Environment Victoria has welcomed today’s announcement that the Andrews Government will use its purchasing power to drive investment in new wind farms for Victoria.
The announcement today is part of a Renewable Energy Roadmap to be released by the state government later this morning in Portland.
Environment Victoria CEO Mark Wakeham said today:
“State government is one of the largest users of energy in Victoria, so today’s announcement is very welcome. Using government energy contracts to drive the construction of new renewable energy projects makes a lot of sense.
“Victoria has 2489 MW of wind farms with planning approval. Today’s announcement is a good first step, kick-starting work on the construction of 100 MW of new wind turbines in the next six months which will also generate new clean energy jobs and investment in regional Victoria.
The Renewable Energy Roadmap is expected to propose a renewable energy target for Victoria and outline the government’s latest thinking on developing the state’s renewable energy industry.
Mr Wakeham said:
“A state renewable energy target is also welcome but it will be important that it has its own policy mechanism, like the ACT government’s reverse auctions for renewable energy, in order to make Victoria the home ground for Australia’s renewable energy industry.
“We will be urging the Andrews Government to set a date for decarbonising the Victorian economy and then setting its renewable energy targets to follow suit. The sooner we move to pollution-free energy the better for Victorians, both in terms of the environment but also through reaping the jobs and investment benefits of being a clean energy front-runner.”
For comment:
Mark Wakeham, CEO, Environment Victoria – 0439 700 501