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Australian Clean Energy Summit raises important themes for the energy transition

July 19, 2024

Entura’s Acting Managing Director Amanda Ashworth and Business Development Manager Patrick Pease attended the Australian Clean Energy Summit held in Sydney this week.

“It was heartening and inspiring to be among the more than 1600 delegates gathering to discuss solutions to expedite Australia’s clean energy transition,” said Amanda.

“I am always proud to reflect on the many ways in which Entura contributes to this crucial and urgent purpose – including supporting our clients with planning, environmental and social impact assessments, design, grid connection support, transmission and distribution solutions, due diligence, asset management, training and more.”

At the summit, CEO of Hydro Tasmania (Entura’s parent company) Ian Brooksbank was part of a panel discussing the critical importance of long-duration storage.

“Entura is lending significant expertise to progress Hydro Tasmania’s plans for more long-duration storage through a new pumped hydro scheme and a redevelopment of an aging hydropower scheme to operate more flexibly to match the needs of the National Electricity Market,” said Amanda.

“We are also supporting clients across Australia and the Indo-Pacific region with energy storage solutions including batteries and pumped hydro to unlock more wind and solar and increase the security and resilience of power systems.”

Getting projects out of the ground

Patrick noted a strong focus from developers on the many challenges and hurdles delaying the delivery of new generation and storage projects in Australia.

“We heard loud and clear that project proponents continue to be frustrated with the time and complexities involved in getting their projects through planning and approvals and achieving grid connection agreements,” he said. 

“In Australia, we are looking at close to a decade in some instances to get a project off the ground, so there’s simply no leeway for getting things wrong along the way. Project proponents should be seeking support from practitioners with a lot of real-world experience, deep understanding of the issues, and highly developed judgement to streamline complex processes as much as possible and avoid any rework.

“In this fast-moving sector, the judgement that grows from experience will be key to navigating uncertainties and maximising the chance of success.”

A fast but fair and positive transition

Amanda reflected that the urgency of the transition and the need to streamline approvals and accelerate delivery must not come at the expense of communities, the environment or integrity.

“Renewable energy projects will inevitably have some impacts, so how can we ensure that we minimise those impacts and find the right balance when compromises seem necessary?” she said.

“At this year’s summit, I observed greater maturity and nuance in discussions around social and environmental responsibility in the sector, with an increasing focus on moving beyond environmental offsets and towards achieving net positives and lasting benefits for nature and for communities,” she said.

“It’s important that the industry guards against simplistic equations in which local impacts of a renewables project are obscured or undervalued due to the project’s overarching benefits for climate change mitigation.

“We all need to recognise that every project is unique, that there are sometimes shades of grey, and that we should pause to ask the right questions and think very carefully about priorities.”

Pushing the limits

Amanda emphasised that a fast transition is essential but will “push the limits” of process, labour, expertise and materials.

“Our industry and policy makers should be looking to pull every possible lever,” says Amanda, “such as regional approaches, global collaboration, innovation and digitisation, and, of course, major investments in the talent pipeline.

“Investing in technical capabilities and leadership capacity will be crucial for our sector to meet the challenges ahead, which is why Entura is putting great effort into attracting and retaining talent, supporting our people to grow, and sharing our knowledge with our regional neighbours through the Entura clean energy and water institute.”

Read more Entura insights into sustainable renewable energy and water projects in our series of thought leadership articles – and listen to our ‘Behind the Scenes’ podcasts to hear from our people.