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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-04 Daily Xml
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Renewable Energy Projects

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:16): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Minister, can you update the house on progress towards meeting the government's economic priority of unlocking the full potential of our state's renewable assets?

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:17): I thank the member for this question and the opportunity to provide all members with an update of the substantial work that is being carried out in this state to meet this important economic priority.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The deputy leader is warned. Can you just sit down, minister. I honestly can't hear him; if you keep shouting out, I can't hear him. So, if you are going to need me to make a ruling on the answer, I can't help you. I remind you all of standing order 142 and let's hear the answer from the Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The government is committed to unlocking the full potential of our resources, energy and renewable assets. It is no accident that all three of those assets have been grouped together, as each sector needs to work in balance to achieve our overall aim: creating a state where people and business thrive. As part of this economic objective, the government is now committed to generating $10 billion of investment in low carbon generation by 2025.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: How is Port going? Exceptionally well. Port are going exceptionally well.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. It is really disappointing that you are not defying me, you are defying the Chair and the house. I ask the minister to continue and ask you to observe standing order 142 again. Minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: As part of this economic objective, the government is committed to generating $10 billion of investment in low carbon generation by 2025. This investment target aligns with the goal of generating 50 per cent of our state's energy from renewable sources by 2025. We are already beginning to make significant inroads towards those targets. I am advised by the Department of State Development that we have already generated $6 billion in investment in low carbon generation to date, and such high levels of investment have helped create 1,330 direct full-time equivalent jobs in the state's renewable energy sector in South Australia.

I am informed that for every direct construction and maintenance job created in the wind industry, two indirect jobs are created elsewhere in the economy. Because wind farms are predominantly located in regional areas, it is those communities that benefit most from these jobs and investment created in this area of the renewable energy sector. It is especially important for those years when drought creates challenges for our rural sector, as regional communities are able to rely on a more diverse economy to help them withstand the pressures of low rainfall on their productive capacity.

Most importantly, South Australia's renewable energy sector embraces innovation. An example of that innovation is Sundrop Farms near Port Augusta. The 20-hectare greenhouse expansion project currently under construction and due for completion in mid/late 2016 relies on solar energy. Sundrop Farm's breakthrough technology allows this trailblazing company to produce high quality food in the Upper Spencer Gulf using solar energy and desalinated sea water. The project is the first in SA to integrate, at a commercial scale, leading technologies across solar thermal energy, solar seawater desalination and freshwater neutrality.

Here we see South Australia embracing innovation to generate investment, create jobs and provide premium food using renewable energy technology to support our regional communities. In February, we welcomed the Hornsdale Wind Farm's success in winning the Australian Capital Territory's reverse auction for 100 megawatts of wind power. That is due to begin construction in November 2015, and wind-powered energy generated in South Australia's Mid North will assist the ACT with its target to secure 90 per cent of its energy from renewable energy.

Today, the Premier and I attended a ceremony to mark South Australia becoming the first state in the nation to capture carbon emissions from a power station. To be built at Torrens Island, the CO2 recovery plant will be the only plant in South Australia to capture CO2 from existing emissions and will be the first plant to capture CO2 from a power station for the CO2 market in South Australia—a remarkable investment in partnership with AGL that says to the world that South Australia is a state that welcomes new ideas.

Even better, this innovative partnership increases investment in the state by Air Liquide of France, one of the world's leading suppliers of industrial gases. The multimillion dollar recovery plant will be built and operated by Air Liquide at the AGL Torrens site to capture and purify 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from the power station's exhaust per year. Those captured emissions are then re-used by the industry to carbonate drinks and to treat wastewater and swimming pools.

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