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• The Future of Energy

Mark Kelleher is the Managing Director of Roaring 40s—a joint venture between internationally renowned energy companies Hydro Tasmania and CLP Power Asia. Roaring 40s has a large portfolio of Australian wind farms, and is currently investigating and developing a number of projects in New Zealand, China, Korea and India. While having a current focus on wind generation, Roaring 40s also has an established capability in hydropower and continues to explore opportunities in other emerging renewable energy technologies.

g-Think: What does the election of the Rudd Government mean for the renewables sector in Australia?
Mark Kelleher: It’s been a massive boost for the sector, both symbolically and in substance. We feel we can hold our head up when doing business overseas now that Australia has ratified Kyoto. And the Mandated Renewable Energy target (MRET) increase to 20% by 2020 restores Australia to the group of countries at the front of the pack in terms of the commitment to renewable energy playing a major role in the global energy mix.

GT: What barriers to growth do you expect the renewables sector to encounter in the coming 5-10 years?
MK: We are fortunate in Australia to have world class renewable energy resources in wind, geothermal and solar power to meet the 20% target, but two other key factors will also need to be addressed to ensure developments reach their full potential:

The first of these is the transmission grid. Most of the existing transmission infrastructure was developed to support fossil fuel generation and is still in place supporting that, with the costs spread across the electricity consumer base. Whereas developers of new renewable energy projects usually have to pay for the additional transmission requirements and connection to the grid.

The second issue is that of planning approvals. Australia has a very rigorous consenting process often involving local, state and national regulation as well as appeal processes. This adds substantial cost and delay to progressing renewable energy projects. In Australia there is overwhelming public support for wind farms but in a small number of communities there has been strong resistance. Many concerns are not well founded (e.g. That wind farms are noisy). It is very important that full and open consultation with communities takes place. To assist in this process, and to facilitate the development of projects, a streamlining of approval processes would be very helpful, including clear development exclusion areas such as prime tourism sites.

GT: What’s your perspective on the benefits of wind technology over solar?
MK: Right now wind is a mainstream source of electricity with global growth levels of around 30% for each of the last five years. In Europe over the last five years around one-third of additional generation capacity has come from wind generation and now the other major regions in the world (China, USA, India) are seeing massive growth rates in this form of energy. So a major benefit of wind is that it is now a mature technology that can deliver large-scale energy projects. Solar will grow in importance over the coming years, but at this stage is still an emerging technology.

GT: What do you think of clean coal technology, CO2 capture and sequestration?
MK: I think if it can be proven as an approach, so-called clean coal technology could have a very important role to play as a transition strategy to address climate change. If it can be implemented it could contribute to a significant reduction in atmospheric CO2 levels over the next thirty to forty years—and of course this would be particularly important in those developing countries with a large reliance on coal (e.g. China) But in the long run coal will run out, and it is clearly better to be using naturally replenishing renewable energy.

GT: When do you think we will see fossil fuel energy sources being penalized for their adverse greenhouse climate impacts?
MK: We are already seeing this in Europe and hopefully this will also commence in Australia with the implementation of emissions trading by around 2010, as the stated policy of the Rudd Government.

GT: Tell me about your vision for Roaring 40s and the renewables sector—how will you know when it’s been achieved?
MK: The vision I have for the renewable energy sector is as the powerhouse for the economic growth and well-being of communities around the world providing the electricity to underpin industry and household needs—but doing so in a way that has minimal environmental impact.

For Roaring 40s, our current vision is to be the leading wind energy business in Australasia, and the leading international wind development business in China and India. An important ingredient for us is to be a leader in safety and the environment in the communities in which we operate.

GT: What do you see as the greatest challenges Roaring 40s will face in the coming 10 years?
MK: We have some great challenges in front of us—but mainly good ones. Attracting and retaining talented people will be a major issue for all companies in this sector. While there are now many young people graduating from universities or technical colleges, there are relatively few key managers and technical experts with say 5-10 years of experience, so there will be an acute shortage for the next five years. For Roaring 40s it is a significant advantage that we are able to offer challenges, experiences and career opportunities across the fastest growing renewable energy markets in the world.

GT: If you were to look forward 50 years, how do you think major industry—and homes—will be powered in Australia?
MK: I’d like to think that by then in Australia we will be powered primarily by a combination of the various renewable energy technologies—wind, solar, geothermal, some bioenergies, and that these, in combination with new technology developments in storage (e.g. Electric cars—plugged into homes of an evening and contributing to providing energy at peak times) and with substantial improvements in energy efficiency practices, we will see only the vestiges of the 20th century fuels remaining.