Antinuclear

Jack Curtis, regional vice president for Asia Pacific at First Solar, the US’s largest solar panel company, said a reform proposal now being floated, as well as the proposals of a federal government-commissioned review released last month, were all potentially fatal to Australia’s renewable energy industry.

First Solar has a $500 million active project pipeline in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, a potential future pipeline of $250 million and has a venture with Rio Tinto to build an up to 6.7 megawatt, $23.4 million solar power plant at the Weipa bauxite mine on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula……..

GE, one of Australia’s largest foreign investors, has rejected the Warburton review proposals, saying either option would risk pushing up household power bills and raise sovereign risk issues for the Australian economy.

First Solar on Thursday said the option that appeared to be emerging as the federal government’s possible compromise position would not be acceptable to the industry.

“I think you’ve already started to see this idea of a ‘real 20 per cent’ target being thrown about as the government’s potential compromise position,” Mr Curtis said.

“But any one of those three (the first two of the Warburton report or that compromise position) wouldn’t be palatable at all to the industry.

“Because it’s gradations of death for the industry. It’s a question of, ‘Do you want to die from one bullet in the head or two or three bullets in the head?’ It’s irrelevant because you’re still lying on the ground dead.”

Mr Curtis said it wasn’t clear if the federal LNP had decided its position on large-scale RET reform…….

“In some of the large projects we’re involved with, say in western NSW, more than 50 per cent of the project procurement comes from local companies that for example used to make parts for auto companies and have retooled to provide parts for solar projects.”

Mr Curtis also questioned Rio Tinto’s call this week for governments, industry and communities to support development of ‘clean coal’ technology which aims to capture and bury underground forever the planet-warming emissions of coal-fired power stations…….

“I’ve seen clean coal promoted as the solution to the world’s dirty coal problems for a long time and I’m yet to see anything that’s a commercially viable solution,” Mr Curtis said…….http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/uss-first-solar-says-australian-govts-renewable-energy-compromise-likely-to-be-rejected/story-fnihsps3-1227056769087