<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/call-for-australia-to-make-wind-turbine-towers-as-well-as-solar-pv-and-battery-storage/>
"The local manufacture of wind turbine towers in Australia could create more
than 4,000 direct jobs, produce more than 800 towers a year and slash millions
of tonnes of emissions from imports, a new report has found.
The report from The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work is calling for
wind turbine towers to be included in the policy push for a Future Made in
Australia, alongside solar PV and battery energy storage systems.
It says that given Australia’s “comparatively unsophisticated manufacturing
base,” a mature low-medium technology activity like making turbine towers is
well within our domestic capability. And returns could be significant.
According to cases simulated in the report, an established workforce could
produce around 818 towers every year with a cumulative value of $15 billion
over the next 17 years.
Report author Phil Toner said about 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions would
also be avoided due to reduced shipping.
“Anyone concerned about the climate should be up in arms at the fact we’re
importing huge heavy steel towers from China when we could be producing them
here, which would provide fantastic opportunities for our burgeoning green
steel sector,” he said.
“With all the opportunities of a net-zero global economy, do we really just
want to replace traditional mineral exports like coal with new generations of
unprocessed minerals like lithium and rare earths?
“Manufacturing our own wind power equipment represents an enormous opportunity
for Australia.”
Wind towers have previously been manufactured in Australia, but policy
uncertainty over a decade of federal Coalition governments put local operations
out of business, with the last locally produced turbine tower finished in 2020,
according to the report.
The Centre for Future Work says fresh efforts to establish turbine tower
manufacturing in Australia are unlikely to meet the same fate, due to
supportive renewables policies both federally and in states – and due to the
resurgence in wind farm development and the nascent offshore industry."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
