Wednesday, July 25
Victoria’s booming renewable energy jobs growth will plummet in less than a year under the targets set by Malcolm Turnbull’s National Energy Guarantee, new projections from Green Energy Markets reveal.
Data compiled by GEM shows large-scale solar projects under construction in Victoria in June 2018 will create about 8,782 jobs, however as the NEG’s weak emissions targets discourage further investment in renewable energy, projections for June 2019 show solar construction will have more than halved to a level representing just 4,108 jobs.
By December 2019 all these construction jobs will have disappeared under federal government policy, leaving the Victorian state government’s renewable energy target as the only remaining policy supporting renewable jobs in the state.
The projected employment crash for Victoria follows the expected demise of large-scale wind and solar projects under the NEG, with its heavy reliance on coal and emissions reduction targets so low they will be met by projects already under construction or at the contracting and tendering stage.
Victoria’s 678 megawatts of large-scale solar construction and investment in June 2018 is set to collapse to just 102 megawatts by June 2019 under the NEG’s current targets.
Wind energy construction tells a similar story with 1626 megawatts currently in construction in June 2018, set to plummet to 878 by June 2019 with the proposed NEG.
Victoria has already gone beyond the weak ambition the Federal Government wants to bind states to under the NEG. The state is already on track to almost 40% of its power consumption coming from renewables by 2020.
By 2030 if Victoria’s full pipeline of projects being scoped was to be constructed it could produce almost 80% of its power from zero emission renewables, however none of it would come to fruition based on the NEG emissions target.
GetUp Campaigns Director Miriam Lyons said Victoria should stand up to Turnbull’s anti-renewable policy at the next COAG meeting and demand better.
“The only thing Malcolm Turnbull’s NEG will guarantee is more coal pollution and less renewables.
“Every day more evidence comes out to show Victoria would be worse off under the NEG’s weak targets.
“Thousands of people could go from working on renewable construction sites to filling out forms at Centrelink under Turnbull's anti-renewable NEG."
"Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has the power to stop this fiasco. She needs to do the right thing by the state and tell Turnbull to come back with a real plan to cut climate pollution, save jobs, bring electricity prices down and keep the renewables boom going."