Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Amendment (Grid Reliability Fund) Bill 2020. The bill will assist in improving Australia's electricity network so it can support more renewable energy through the $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund. This fund is part of the Morrison government's plan for a technology approach—not a taxes approach—to the energy market, ensuring Australian households and businesses can access affordable, reliable energy. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has already identified that the fund could support seven projects with an investment value of up to $4.5 billion and the ability to create over a thousand jobs.

As Australia emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, these jobs will be crucial in growing the economy and assisting in our nation's recovery. The fund could support investments in energy storage projects such as pumped hydro and batteries, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and grid-stabilising technologies. In New South Wales, the Grid Reliability Fund could support projects such as the creation of renewable energy zones and dispatchable generation projects. Importantly, the new fund will not divert the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's existing $10 billion allocation away from clean energy projects, and the bill has no impact on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's ability to use this existing allocation. The bill also has no impact on the independence of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation or the capacity of its board to independently determine which investments it should make.

Australia's experience has been that, when new technologies become economically competitive, households and businesses rapidly adopt them. We've got a record that all Australians can be proud of. One in four Australian homes now have solar on their roof. That's the highest uptake of household solar in the world. And last year, Australia invested $7.7 billion, or $299 per person, in renewable energy. On a per-person basis, this places us ahead of countries like Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the United States.

This creates opportunities but also several challenges, including the need for more flexible backup generation and storage to balance and integrate high levels of renewable energy. We need to ensure that the lights stay on when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. That's exactly the type of investment that this bill is designed to support. It's also why the Morrison government has a technology-centric approach, focused on bringing the cost of new technologies down rather than raising the cost of traditional sources such as coal and gas, which continue to play such an important role in our energy mix. It's an approach focused on delivering affordable, reliable energy that Australians rely on, whilst also reducing emissions.

There are many innovative renewable energy projects across Australia, and I'd like to briefly touch on three important projects in my own electorate and across the Central Coast. One such example is Star Scientific. It's a hydrogen research and development company in Berkeley Vale—north of my electorate—dedicated to creating safe, reliable and affordable energy with zero emissions. Matthew Hingerty, the company's chief of communications, said that he was proud of the innovative technologies developed by the company. These include a unique catalyst called HERO that instantly converts hydrogen into heat without combustion—an example of the world-leading research being conducted into energy generation right here in Australia.

ReCarbon is a multinational company with operations on the Central Coast. The company is committed to developing manufacturing and marketing systems using microwave energy to re-form greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into hydrogen and other products. Philip Sohn, the head of global business development at ReCarbon, said the business had established a first-of-its-kind biohydrogen technology cluster. He said the project aims to take organic waste and convert it into biogas, which is then placed into the carbon system to make hydrogen. This is another example of an initiative helping to reduce waste and generate clean energy at the same time.

Licella and its pilot plant in Somersby use catalytic hydrothermal reactors to rapidly and economically transform biomass, waste plastic and residues into a synthetic oil or biocrude to produce more sustainable fuels, chemicals, waxes and plastics. Licella's co-founder and CEO, Dr Len Humphreys, said the business was 'a great example of Australian innovation tackling one of the world's major issues'. These are just some of the exceptional businesses across my local region that are dedicated to delivering a cleaner, more sustainable future.

The Morrison government also has a strong focus on the cost of energy, and it continues to deliver cheaper power. There have been consistent CPI reductions in retail prices for seven consecutive quarters, and wholesale electricity prices have fallen for 16 months in a row. They are now at their lowest level in six years. This bill will further assist in supporting energy projects to drive cost reductions. It will also support the objectives of the Technology Investment Roadmap as part of the Morrison government's emissions reduction strategy. The key to our plan is to balance the technologies that will bring down emissions, whilst also creating jobs and driving investment. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will play a key role in leveraging private sector investment in priority technologies identified in the road map. Through a 'technology not taxes' approach, we'll achieve our emissions reduction targets cost-effectively while maintaining our energy security. The Morrison government will continue to work very hard to deliver affordable, reliable energy for hardworking households and businesses across Australia. This is an issue that is very important to my electorate of Robertson, on the New South Wales Central Coast. I commend the bill to the house.

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