The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) is slated to be one of New South Wales’s largest sources of renewable energy, including an array of solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines.
But simply moving wind turbine components to the regional area is proving to be a challenging and costly exercise.
Authorities in Australia’s most populous state are eyeing millions of dollars of new infrastructure simply to build or reinforce existing roads so that trucks can carry massive turbine blades to their destination, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Several routes from the Port of Newcastle to Dubbo, which is located within the REZ, are proving difficult for trucks to navigate, particularly the Denman Bridge, which crosses the Hunter River.
Sharon Pope, director of the environment from Muswellbrook Shire Council, says the bridge is too small in its current incarnation and authorities will either need to pull it down or build a bypass.
Another option is to use small local roads but those are not designed to take the weight of oversized traffic and money will need to go into repairing or reinforcing those roads.
While one route to the Winterbourne Wind Farm will require upgrades of $340 million (US$226 million) for a new bypass unless authorities choose to tear down or rebuild an existing rail overpass, likely to be just as costly.
Past experience has shown the difficulties of trucking oversized turbine blade cargo.
In 2019, a 60-tonne truck carrying a 68-metre-long blade rolled over, trying to navigate a harsh bend in Tasmania, Australia.
Net Zero Challenges Accumulate
Logistics is the latest challenge to come as part of Australia’s push towards net zero. The current federal Labor government has set a target of cutting emissions by 43 percent by 2030 and aims to reach net zero by 2050.The pledge has seen federal and state governments funnel millions into new infrastructure to create renewable energy generators (wind, solar, batteries, and attempts at hydrogen) that can take over coal-fired power plants when they are shut down.
Electric car manufacturers are also receiving favourable policy treatment with a swathe of subsidies and tax breaks rolled out to encourage EV uptake.
While the goal of climate change advocates has been to take better care of the environment, the policies will, in fact, result in a quadrupling of mining activity by some estimates and rampant construction to create net zero societies.
“We can’t generate renewable energy or get to net zero without the copper and cobalt that go in solar panels and wind turbines,” Mr. Chalmers told the World Mining Congress in Brisbane.
“And we can’t store it without the lithium, nickel, and graphite needed for batteries.”
While Sherry Duhe, interim CEO of Newcrest, revealed that one EV required around 10 tonnes of mining, six times more than your average vehicle.
“We have to go deeper, we have to build bigger mines, and we have to go much, much faster than we have ever gone before,” she told the Congress.
At the same time, a new transmission infrastructure connecting solar, wind, and batteries will need to be built to connect the systems all together.
The conundrum has compelled Australia’s Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, to call on the government to embrace nuclear, particularly small modular reactors, as the most efficient way to generate low-emissions energy.
“If the government wants to stop coal-fired power and phase out gas-fired power, the only feasible and proven technology which can firm up renewables and help us achieve the goals of clean, cost-effective and consistent power is next-generation nuclear technologies which are safe and emit zero emissions,” Dutton told the Institute of Public Affairs on July 7.
