All-Energy speakers call for changes in the clean energy sector

Speakers at the upcoming All-Energy Australia conference, to be held in Melbourne from 15-16 October, have claimed that the clean energy sector faces a difficult future unless it embraces transformation and collaboration.

Greg Pope, business manager for energy and resources with engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash, says at the moment there is a severe lack of certainty in the industry and that “change has to happen. It is a case of collaborate, innovate or fail”.

Frazer-Nash works with clean energy developers in marine, wind and solar power, as well as with clients in transport, defence and oil and gas. Pope noted, “Whereas the focus in lots of other sectors is moving towards asset management and the long-term sustainability of enterprises, this hasn’t been the case in the clean energy field.

“It is imperative that, rather than just concerning themselves with getting projects off the ground, clean energy developers, investors and regulators concentrate on wider issues such as installation, operation, maintenance, decommissioning and disposal,” he said, adding that the best outcomes are achieved by addressing these types of issues during the design phase.

Lyle De Sousa, a commercial lawyer and mechanical engineer who founded Legal Energy Lawyers and Consultants, says while we’ve lived with a centralised electricity model for some time, “we need to move to a far more flexible and decentralised structure that accommodates new business models”.

“The regulatory regime we have is geared to the old order,” he said. “People need to work together to ensure innovative projects are established, allowing consumers and businesses to take greater control of the way they source their electricity.”

De Sousa is confident we will end up with “a revolutionary system over the next 10 to 15 years, but the form it will take will be dependent upon the mindset of developers and network businesses”, who “need to become more customer focused and work together to enact change”.

Ric Brazzale, managing director of environmental credit agent Green Energy Trading, says the biggest challenge facing the renewables industry is the federal government review of the renewal energy target (RET). Brazzale fears that, if support for solar is removed, “Activity will halve. More than 6000 people will lose their jobs and I promise you I am not being alarmist - they are the cold, hard facts”.

If the scheme is left alone, he said, the number of Australian families embracing solar energy - currently sitting at over 1.3 million - will double in five years. Brazzale is thus asking the federal government to leave the RET as it is and allow industry to “get on with the business of investing in and developing new projects”.

“We need a grass-roots campaign,” he stated. “Businesses have to get out there and pound the pavement, make contact with local MPs and demonstrate the benefits of the projects they continue to undertake.”

More than 120 speakers and 150 local and overseas exhibitors will participate in All-Energy, while over 5000 people from about 25 countries are expected to attend the free multi-stream conference and exhibition.

Full details about All-Energy Australia 2014, including the program and all keynote speakers, are now available online at www.all-energy.com.au.