Tasmanian Electricity Demand to Rise 50%

Media Release: Tasmanian Electricity Demand to Rise 50%

All Quotes
Jack Redpath, Principal at Carbon Zero Initiative

“We still use a lot of fossil fuels in Tasmania. We use oil to drive cars and move goods, gas in our homes and businesses and coal in four large industrial facilities across the state. About 40% of our energy is electricity from renewables with the other 60% from fossil fuels.

“A lot of effort has gone into positioning Tasmania to increase clean energy exports. However, there is less information about Tasmania’s future use of electricity on the island and how this is predicted to change.

“Carbon Zero Initiative has studied the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan (AEMO ISP), a national level plan produced every two years with input from thousands of Australia’s energy experts.

“Tasmania has a huge opportunity in rooftop solar where we can jump from laggrad to leader. Tasmania has a great solar resource and significant potential for rooftop solar installations across the residential and commercial sectors. 

“Currently Tasmania is behind the rest of Australia in terms of rooftop solar. But rooftop solar is the most cost-effective way to generate electricity. It reduces power bills, electricity waste, alleviates strain on transmission and has a very small land use impact.

“In addition to the rooftop solar story, as Tasmania phases out oil, gas and industrial coal we will create opportunities for Tasmanian businesses and on island innovation.

“If Tasmania wants to continue to lead the world and lock in our status as a clean energy manufacturing and service hub, we need to measure the scale of the opportunity and make sure we support the innovators who are leading the way.

“The ISP is a useful baseline model for Tasmania. It predicts our on island demand for electricity will rise by 48% by 2035 and 55% by 2050.”

“This accounts for efficiency upgrades to housing, business and residential electrification, electric vehicles and some green hydrogen for decarbonisation of heavy industry (and losses from transmission).”

“We think that the ISP is a good starting point, but it doesn’t appear to capture some of the nation leading decarbonisation projects currently underway around Tasmania.

“We think these will have a material impact on the amount of clean energy needed in Tasmania, but we need to run the numbers and see how they compare.

For more background information on the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Integrated System Plan (ISP), please refer to AEMO’s website or Carbon Zero Initiative’s full report.