Prime Minister's announcement strengthens Australia's clean energy growth story

The agreement will keep Australia’s largest aluminium smelter operating beyond 2028, protecting more than 1,000 direct jobs in the Hunter, while helping underpin almost 3 gigawatts of new renewable generation and firming capacity. Tomago is the largest single electricity user in NSW, consuming more than 10 per cent of the state’s electricity

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Jackie Trad said the announcement should put to rest claims that Australia must choose between clean energy and a strong industrial base.

“For years we have been told that moving to clean energy means Australia will stop making things. Today’s announcement shows the opposite is true,” Ms Trad said.

“Clean energy will help keep one of Australia’s biggest industrial facilities operating, protect more than 1,000 blue-collar jobs in the Hunter and drive billions of dollars of investment into the new electricity generation needed to power it.

“Tomago is not a small electricity user. It consumes more than one in every ten units of electricity used in NSW. If we can progressively power an operation of this scale with renewable energy backed by firming, we can power Australian industry.

“This is the opportunity in front of Australia. We have some of the best renewable energy resources in the world, an established industrial workforce and enormous global demand for the products we already make.

“The energy transition should not mean choosing between cutting emissions and protecting industrial jobs. Done properly, it is how we protect those jobs and give industries like aluminium a competitive future in Australia.

“Keeping Tomago operating while bringing almost 3 gigawatts of new renewable generation and firming into the system is a big vote of confidence in both Australian manufacturing and Australia’s clean energy future.

“This is what the transition needs to deliver: reliable clean power, continued investment in Australian industry and secure, well-paid jobs in the communities that have powered our economy for generations.”