Premier Jeremy Rockliff has confirmed that the lack of power available to businesses that want to expand is set to constrain the economy for years to come.
When asked in Question Time today, the Premier couldn't name a single windfarm that would be up and running within the next two years.
Meanwhile, longstanding industrial businesses like Norske Skog can't even get 50MW of additional power, leading the TCCI to rightly declare Tasmania is in a grip of an energy crisis.
Tasmania needs more renewable energy generation as soon as possible so our economy can grow.
Premier Rockliff has failed to bring any new energy projects online, and those that have been announced are falling over, with Whale Back Ridge caught up in red tape and Robbins Island told they can only operate seven months of the year.
We have the best wind resource in the country, but our state is the hardest place in Australia to build a windfarm, with no new renewable energy investments committed to the state in the last five years.
A Labor government will make resolving the challenges facing windfarm projects in this state a priority for our first term in office.
By harnessing our world-class wind resource we will be able to support the current and future needs of our state and the future growth of our major industries.
Dean Winter MP
Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables
