Media release – Jeremy Rockliff, Premier; Guy Barnett, Minister for Energy and Renewables, 4 August 2023
Update on Marinus Link
The Rockliff Liberal Government will deliver a Tasmania First Energy Guarantee.
“Today, I am announcing the first step in the Tasmania First Energy Guarantee that my Government will deliver,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.
“Our Tasmania First Energy Guarantee will secure Tasmanian energy for Tasmanians, at Tasmanian prices.
“The first step in this plan is securing the future of the Marinus Link Project on terms that put Tasmania first.
“For the right price, Marinus Link is an important project which will help boost additional renewable energy development in Tasmania and support growth in business and industry.
“The right price does not mean any price, and from day one we have said that the cost-benefits of this project must stack up in favour of Tasmanians.
“Under the Agreement we made with the Australian Government in October last year, we agreed to provide a third of the equity required for the project, based on the then $3.1 billion for Marinus Link.
“The initial agreement for Marinus Link intended the project to be funded on the basis of 80 per cent debt finance and 20 per cent equity shared equally between the Commonwealth, Tasmania and Victoria.
“However, we have now been advised of material and significant cost increase for Marinus Link. This would mean a significant extra cost burden for Tasmania.
“Subsequently, we wrote to the Prime Minister and Minister Bowen in July advising of our concerns about the increasing costs of the Marinus Link Project, and I have since spoken to the Prime Minister directly about it.
“I have asked the Prime Minister to consider alternative funding options for the increased costs of this project. Those discussions are continuing, and I am confident that we will reach a good outcome for Tasmania soon.
Minister for Energy and Renewables Mr Guy Barnett said the Government would always put Tasmania first.
“We have always been clear that Tasmania would only pay its fair share of this project, which is of national significance,” Minister Barnett said.
“In fact, Tasmania has already committed over $100 million to Marinus Link, the North West Transmission Development and the Battery of the Nation projects.
“However, the updated estimates of Marinus means we must revisit the project to ensure it’s in Tasmania’s best interests.
“For the right price, Marinus will be good for Tasmania, providing at massive economic and jobs boost, huge advances in bringing on more renewable energy, and continuing to ensure Tasmanians always have among the nation’s lowest power prices.
“Our state has world-class hydro and wind resources. If other states want this, they should pay for it, or the Federal Government should step up. We will always put Tasmania and Tasmanians first.”
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, 4 August 2023
10 years and $100 million wasted with Marinus on life support
The Tasmanian Liberal Government has been talking about building a second electricity interconnector for almost 10 years. Most of that time it has been championed by Guy Barnett.
Today is the most embarrassing day I can recall any Minister in any government having. $100 million has been wasted while Tasmanians got slugged with 22.5 per cent power price rises.
Guy Barnett’s entire political career, any credibility he had left, hinges on getting Marinus built. He said we could not protect Tasmanians from massive power price increases because it would put this project at risk. Now it looks like it won’t ever be built anyway.
Today he has effectively walked away from his own deal, with Jeremy Rockliff holding his hand.
Jeremy Rockliff and Guy Barnett signed this deal less than nine months ago. Today they’ve admitting it was a stinker for Tasmania. They are a national joke. Having secured billions of dollars of concessional finance earmarked to get more renewable energy into the grid, they have effectively given it all back.
Yet another deal signed by Jeremy Rockliff that laid too much of the risk with Tasmania and not enough of the benefits.
Jeremy Rockliff said this was a deal that would reduce Tasmanian power bills, deliver 200% of Tasmania’s generation needs and be built for $3.8 billion. None of those things were true then and they are not true today.
This would have been the biggest infrastructure project in Tasmanian history, but the Government has now walked away from its own deal.
There are billions of dollars of capital waiting to be invested in this state on renewable energy projects. Most of it hinges on building Marinus. All of that is now uncertain and investors will start looking elsewhere to place their capital.
Fault lies with two people: Jeremy Rockliff and Guy Barnett.
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 4 August 2023
Dump Marinus Link Now
Tasmania’s Premier Rockliff and Energy Minister Barnett have been forced to admit today that Marinus Link is in a financial mess which will drive up Tasmanians’ power bills.
“The Government must come clean on the extent of the mess and to dump this millstone around Tasmania’s neck.,” said Christine Milne, Bob Brown Foundation Patron.
“Tasmanians deserve the truth. Marinus Link is way over budget and way over time. Having admitted it will now not come on stream until 2029, they still refuse to tell Tasmanians exactly what the projected cost of Marinus now is. What figure is the line in the sand? It is no use to TasNetworks/Marinus Pty Ltd getting in expensive consultants to massage figures and invent ‘phases’ and ‘scenarios’. It is all to cover up the truth.”
“These same consultants said that two cables coming on stream in 2027-28 and costing between $3.1 and $3.8b was the optimal scenario and that there was a 90% certainty that these costs would not be overrun. Now it is heading towards double the cost and there is huge supply chain pressure on the cables. There is no good scenario. Project Marinus is doomed. Running to the Federal Government for a rescue package to refinance the project and to order the cables simply means Tasmanians will pay higher power bills and have fewer services as finance is diverted into this black hole,” said Christine Milne.
“Does anyone seriously think the other states won’t scream if the Federal Government rescues Tasmania when all their transmission projects are in a similar mess? After telling Tasmanians it was a fantastic project which would deliver huge economic and employment benefits to Tasmania, the truth is finally coming out. Marinus Link is a boondoggle, an unnecessary, wasteful and fraudulent project designed to invent new business for Hydro Tasmania and TasNetworks neither of which can service their debts and maintain their business without it.”
“Hydro Tas and TasNetworks were never across the technological advances that made their project redundant. ‘Batteries have leapfrogged pumped hydro and wind farms cannot compete with Victorian projects unless the community pays for their access to that market, with new and hugely expensive transmission lines,” concluded Christine Milne.
Media release – independent Member for Lyons, John Tucker, MP; independent Member for Bass, Lara Alexander, MP, 5 August 2023
Independent MPs Lara Alexander (Bass) and John Tucker (Lyons) cautiously welcome Rockliff Government’s U-Turn on Marinus Link funding
Independent MPs, Lara Alexander (Bass) and John Tucker (Lyons), have cautiously welcomed the Rockliff Government’s announcement that it is rethinking its funding commitment to the Marinus Link project.
Mr Tucker and Mrs Alexander said they were delighted that the government has finally started listening to their continued warnings about the project, from their time as serving Liberals to more recently as independent MPs.
“The U-Turn announcement regarding Marinus Link cost over-runs by the Premier Rockliff and Minister Barnett, vindicates our repeated calls for more transparency and accountability. We will continue to insist on full Parliamentary scrutiny of the Marinus Link, and associated power developments, through the Project of State Significance process,” Mr Tucker said.
“When we announced our decision to resign from the Liberal Government in May, and move to the cross bench, Mrs Alexander and I cited serious concerns surrounding the Marinus Project as one of the key reasons behind our decision.
“The Tasmania First energy policy adopted by the Hodgman Government in 2018 was a powerful energy-bill reliever, which should never have been abandoned.
“The consequent rapid rise in energy bills, well beyond the rate of inflation, is clearly unsustainable, so we cautiously congratulate the government on today’s change of direction.
However, as we have experienced with Premier Rockliff before, the devil is in the detail. Therefore, we will wait for the details before offering steadfast support for Marinus Link,” Mr Tucker said.
Mrs Alexander said the government’s announcement of a “re-commitment to a Tasmania First energy policy and re-think on Project Marinus” is well overdue and a welcome sign of a return to energy sanity.
“We agree with many of the sentiments expressed in the joint media release from the Premier and Minister for Energy and Renewables when they say, “Our state has world-class hydro and wind resources.” We also agree with them when they say, “If other states want this, they should pay for it, or the Federal Government should step up.”
“However, the crux of the matter is that Tasmanians are being asked to foot one-third of the bill to help mainland states with their energy problems for what amounts to $1.15 per week off their own power bills. This is hardly putting Tasmania and Tasmanians first, as Premier Rockliff and Minister Barnett claimed they will always do,” Mrs Alexander said.
“In another example of only telling half the story, the Premier and the Minister for Energy and Renewables have both failed to mention that when Victoria increases its wind capacity, which it can do at the same cost as in Tasmania, its reliance on Marinus Link will be almost redundant, leaving Tasmanians to continue paying off $1.3 billion dollars for infrastructure that will no longer be fit for purpose.
“Then there is the report prepared by Dr Bruce Mountain of Victoria University’s Victoria Energy Policy Centre, which was widely reported by the ABC, but ignored by the Rockliff Government. The updated a report, published in 2021, on the economic prospects of the Project Marinus and Battery of the Nation projects found it would be more cost effective to build battery storage in Victoria than to store energy in Tasmania and using Marinus Link to send it to Victoria.
“The report also found that Victoria continues to invest significantly in large-scale battery storage projects as the cost of battery storage has decreased.
“The conclusion of the report states: ‘We now feel able to conclude that not only does Marinus Link have no chance of competing with battery alternatives but that if Hydro Tasmania develops pumped hydro capacity in Tasmania it is very likely that, like Snowy 2.0, it will be stranded from the outset.’ “
Mrs Alexander said that the imposition of further power price hikes on Tasmanian consumers by the Tasmanian Economic Regulator, which took effect on July 1, had made a change of direction by the Rockliff Government imperative.
“As TasCOSS CEO, Adrienne Picone, made clear during the 2023 Budget Briefing, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of households suffering energy debt over the past year; with 47,000 Tasmanian households now living in energy poverty,“ Mrs Alexander said.
“After two years of energy price hikes, amounting to close to 25 percent, it is insulting to say Tasmanians will be better off when Marinus link comes online.
“Tasmanians are not stupid. They know they are paying more for their energy now than they were before we joined the NEM; and they know the energy regulator will continue to approve exorbitant energy price hikes every year, costing Tasmanians dearly, while transferring millions of dollars annually from their pockets to the Tasmanian Government’s coffers,” Mrs Alexander added.
The two independents said they had warned the government repeatedly that Tasmania would face unsustainable costs from the Marinus Link project, which was already prohibitively expensive before the Premier revealed the current cost blow-out.
Mr Tucker and Mrs Alexander said that they will continue to pressure the Government to do everything possible to reduce the financial stress from energy bills as 47,000 Tasmanian under duress is 47,000 too many.
“As several analysts have pointed out, Basslink has never provided a commercial rate of return. This is not a good look for the Premier or the Minister for Energy and Renewables when it comes to justifying Marinus Link, which is a much larger project costing Tasmania billions of dollars,” Mr Tucker said.
SOLVE: Concerned About Dud Marinus Link? They’re Planning Four
Ted Mead
August 4, 2023 at 17:35
Every Tasmanian knows that to give a project the ‘Kiss of Death’, simply hand it over to Guy Barnett.
One could easily assume that this dumbo inefficacious Marinus project is probably history. However, given Tasmania’s political track record in attempting to resurrect numerous other undesirable zombie schemes throughout the state, one should never say any proposals are ‘dead and buried.’
It doesn’t require an economic degree to comprehend that Tasmanians won’t benefit from another undersea cable. Power prices won’t be cheaper if Tasmania has to foot the bill for the Marinus construction, not to mention the outrageous and invasive transmission line spanning across the north that would see the Tas network price skyrocket beyond the predicted average customer charge of $40 per year.
Renewables yes, but not more wind farms. We should move on from dark-age dinosaur technology and flood the Midlands with photovoltaics, then distribute the power into direct or micro grids to find the solution to lower-priced and more reliable power sources.
As for power storage, Australia should restart its manufacturing industries with the mass production of sodium batteries that are cheaper, safer and which out-perform lithium batteries in most cases.
Whilst Australia has significant deposits of lithium, it still relies on cobalt from China.
This link indicates that sodium, of which there is a global abundance, is the future in world energy storage.
Rod
August 5, 2023 at 01:41
‘Put Tasmania and Tasmanians first’ is a statement which sounds like Donald Trump.
The wind farm proponents are foreign companies which stand to make huge profits from the Marinus proposal. Tasmanians will pay more in electricity costs to enable foreign interests to make fortunes, with yet more corporate welfare provided by the poorest state in Australia.
Chris
August 5, 2023 at 10:38
Hands up all those who can recall power shortages from decreased rainfall over many periods in the past!
Tasmania was producing hydrogen in the 1950s and 60s at Risdon at the sulphate of ammonia plant where the silo for sulphate of ammonia was stored and later became a ticking time bomb like Beruit, but luckily no such incident actually occurred. The plant used a continuous 24 megawatts for the electrolysis of water which produce hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen was mixed with nitrogen produced by compressor and mixed with sulphuric acid to produce the fertiliser.
Despite its groundbreaking production by using concrete cells for electrolysis, and mercury arc rectifiers for Direct Current electricity production, the plant closed. Its closure was assumed to be due to the unreliability of said particular type of vacuum pumpless rectifiers which suffered from heat variations causing backfires. It’s noted that the same brand of rectifiers were used at Bell Bay, but they were enhanced with vacuum pumps.
Why then does Tasmania even consider exporting power to the Big Island when its needs will be met by large scale renewables? Will we be just a Barnett thought bubble enhanced by a Morrison brain cell – or rather would we do what Eric Reece did and supply power at reduced prices to industry to generate jobs and increase the economy by getting every Tasmanian to subsidise these corporations with larger power bills. Every pensioner and the like squirms when Barnett grins into existence another power increase to enable the HEC to give an amount to the Government rather than keep our bills at some semblance of fairness.
Still, when their moaner comes into existence we can pay back the capital, and no doubt rent these wires well into the future and, like at present, be unable to secure a benefit but enhance the grinning face that is a minister, one who appears regularly on their 7 channel and provides, like the rest of them, an opportunity for us to heavily mute them.
Ben Marshall
August 5, 2023 at 13:28
NB: Project Marinus is ‘Marinus Link’ which is a company owned by TasNetworks, PLUS TasNetworks’ ‘North West Transmission Development’ which is a vast new grid to connect new renewables investments (windfarms etc) to the Mainland energy market via Marinus Link and Basslink.
Marinus Link is the first of four new Bass Strait interconnectors now in advanced planning by TasNetworks.
Chris.
August 5, 2023 at 14:18
Yeah, but there are those who recall a Liberal promise that the HEC would not sell its generating assets, but now there is no need as it seems the “farms” are owned by Chinese corporations and, like Wilson Homes, we pay what they want.