Clean Energy Council CEO, Kane Thornton's opening address to the Australian Wind Industry Summit (AWIS) 2024

"Last week, I completed a mental health first aid course. I suspect many of you have heard me speak before about the importance of caring for our mental health.

"The course I did focussed on building the resilience of our wellbeing. And there were two factors that stood out as being crucial for this - purpose and tenacity.

"One of the privileges of working in the Australian wind industry is having a very clear purpose. It doesn't get much bigger than this.

"This purpose includes decarbonising Australia's energy system, helping to double the amount of renewable energy over the past five years and doubling it again to 2030, creating jobs in regional Australia, driving down power prices, delivering the single greatest contribution to Australia's emissions targets and setting Australia up as a global clean energy superpower.

"That's a powerful purpose that I suspect motivates us all. You really wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

"Thank you all for living this purpose and congratulations on what you have and will contribute to Australia's energy future.

"But we need more than a clear purpose. We also need great tenacity.

"We need to be delivering around 7 GW of large-scale renewable energy per year. We can expect around half of that to be wind.

"It is fair to say that 2023 was a lean year for wind, with not a single announcement of a wind project reaching financial close. Fortunately, this year is looking a bit better, with 1.5 GW of capacity reaching FID in the first half of 2024.

"We should have big expectations for the second half of this year. But this won't be easy. It requires great determination, grit and patience.

"The challenges are many and varied. As a nation, we didn't do a great job of preparing for this complex transition. So we now need to draw on every ounce of tenacity to confront these challenges.

"Rising costs are difficult to pass on, due to a complex energy market and stiff competition.

"Costs are increasing because we are doing all of this at a time of unprecedented infrastructure spending by governments, significant increases in labour costs, inflation and higher interest rates and unprecedented global demand for renewable energy, placing further cost pressures on supply chains.

"We also need the tenacity to ensure we are genuinely engaging with communities and taking them with us on the energy transition. This also requires us to respond to the rise of NIMBYism across Australia, distrust of governments and big business, a rising sense of inequality, as well as the impacts of a cost-of-living crisis.

"We need the tenacity to navigate and reform environmental and planning regimes that are not fit for purpose, for either onshore or offshore wind.

"Our sector will continue to exercise tenacity in responding to changing market conditions and new policy measures, including the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS).

"There is also long-overdue reform of regulatory and market structures, which are both welcome, and a bit unsettling.

"The challenges differ between onshore and offshore wind, but all of these require us to work together and collaborate, with community, governments and regulators.

"It will require our deep expertise and patience, sharing insights and working together - and that's why we are all here today."

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: 

Liam Straughan

Clean Energy Council Media Officer

+61 409 470 683