Federal Member for Braddon Brett Whiteley and Environment Minister Greg Hunt today visited the site of what could be one of the largest investments in renewable energy in Australia on Robbins Island, Tasmania.
“Robbins Island has the potential to host up to 300 wind turbines producing around 600-800MW of renewable energy capacity. This would mean around $1.6 billion in new investment” Mr Whiteley said.
“Not only would there be hundreds of jobs involved in construction, there would be around 40-60 fulltime jobs created permanently.”
“Robbins Island and other potential wind farm sites in the area offer a great opportunity for Tasmania.”
North West Tasmania has some of the best wind resources not just in Australia but in the world, and a number of large wind farms are being proposed.
“One of the reasons the Turnbull Coalition Government established the Feasibility Study into a second electricity interconnector led by former Tasmanian Federal Minister Warwick Smith was to see if we could develop this renewable energy source,” Minister Hunt said.
“It would provide additional energy security for Tasmania as well as being able to feed that renewable energy back into the other states.”
The Turnbull Coalition Government is committed to driving the development of renewable energy and meeting the ambitious 2020 renewable energy target.
The Renewable Energy Target will see a doubling of large scale renewable energy by 2020.
“After Labor trashed the renewable energy scheme with its chronic mismanagement, the Coalition has now fixed Labor’s mess and restored investor confidence in renewable energy in Australia,” Mr Hunt said.
“Sites like Robbins Island provide a significant opportunity for economic growth and jobs for the people of Braddon and for Tasmania,” Mr Whiteley said.
“And like all Tasmanians who want investment and jobs, I eagerly await Warwick Smith’s interim report on the feasibility of a second interconnector.”
(ENDS)