Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) CEO Ivor Frischknecht addressed the Austmine 2015 conference in Brisbane on 20 May 2015.
“One of ARENA’s priorities is to work with the mining sector to overcome challenges associated with integrating renewables into off-grid locations,” Mr Frischknecht said.
“We are aware barriers include unclear costs, higher up-front costs which favour longer projects, and the operational challenges of incorporating new technology.
“Some stakeholders have flagged technical issues such as variable renewable output, perceived reliability risk and appropriate workforce skills and expertise.
“Many of these are symptomatic of being an early mover, of going first. ARENA is positioned to help overcome first mover disadvantage, such as making up for higher cost of finance, higher supply chain costs and bigger construction contingency margins.
“It may surprise some of you to know the connection between mining and renewables goes back a long way in Australia.”
Read the full transcript.
