Victoria’s energy minister has urged private companies to help do the heavy lifting in the state’s transition to renewable energy, saying the revived public State Electricity Commission (SEC) will not crowd out the market.
Lily D’Ambrosio told an industry event on Wednesday that less than a quarter of the renewable energy required to meet the state’s 2035 emissions reduction target would come from the SEC, and called for investment to produce the remaining 20.5 gigawatts that is needed.
This comes after the revival of the SEC became a flagship election promise of the state government last year, which Daniel Andrews repeatedly highlighted after Labor won a third term of government.
D’Ambrosio assured private companies that the SEC was not designed to be “crowding out the market for private investment”.
“There’s lots of room and we need all of you who’ve got an interest in this space to come and continue to build, knowing that there’s plenty to be done in our state,” she said.
“We need to see 25GW of new [generators] between now and 2035.”
The Age last month revealed that the Andrews government would also request federal government funding for the SEC, according to tender documents.
D’Ambrosio said the state had a “good partner” in the Albanese government as it forged ahead with its renewable energy transition.
Victorian government modelling shows 25GW is needed by 2035 to reach a 95% reduction in emissions.
The SEC will generate 4.5GW – less than 20% of the required energy. While she touched on the government’s offshore wind targets, D’Ambrosio stressed there was a need for more onshore technologies like solar and wind energy.
The event, hosted by the state’s peak business body, was focused on Victoria’s transition to net zero. Under the Andrews government’s targets, Victoria will slash its emissions by 95% by 2035 and net zero emissions will be reached by 2045.
Last year, the government also unveiled Australia’s largest energy storage targets, with the aim to reach 6.3GW by 2035 to support emissions reduction.
The state government has estimated the renewable energy targets will boost the state’s economic output by about $9.5bn and create an additional 59,000 jobs through to 2035.
The SEC was first set up in 1918, and by 1972 it was the sole agency in the state for electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply before it was privatised in the 1990s.
The former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett’s government led the privatisation of the organisation in a bid to reduce the state’s debt.
