Questions without notice and ministers statements
Offshore wind energy
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): (1437) My question is for the minister for energy. Minister, I refer to the government’s offshore wind auction announced yesterday, closing in August 2027, and I ask what role contracts for difference will play. In particular, is it open for tenderers to seek state assurances through contracts for difference?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:00): Mr Davis, I will just check if I got your question. I think I got the general gist of it, even though people were talking over the top of us. Yes, I announced the auction this morning. The auction will run for 12 months. It is a reverse auction. It is about encouraging industry to bid in for the offshore projects, which will amount to 2 gigawatts of power for the NEM. In relation to what will be looked at in terms of those auctions, that is available in the documentation, which I am happy to provide you with.
As I have indicated, the auction is open, industry will be encouraged to bid in and there is a lot of industry excitement. This is not a project that starts today. There has been a lot of work undertaken by industry, which will be very keen to bid in over the next 12 months. Once the bids are submitted, Mr Davis, they will be assessed against the criteria. It is all about driving value for Victorians and energy consumers to keep Victoria best placed to keep our power prices low. As you know, they are the lowest in the country currently. We would like them to be lower going forward, which is why we are so excited about this auction. As I said, 12 months – it starts today. There will be a lot of interest. In relation to the contracts there are a range of commitments that need to be met, and they will be assessed once the tenders have approached. It is not going to be my practice to give a running commentary on the tenders before they come in.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:02): I note that my question was about whether contracts for difference were open in the tender, and the minister has not mentioned the words ‘contracts for difference’. Let me therefore ask, with respect to the offshore wind auction: is it open to tenderers to request direct state government financial support, and if so, on what grounds will this be provided?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:03): Mr Davis, there are established guidelines for the tendering process. I have already offered to give you some of those details. I do not have them on me. I have got them in my office, so I can take you through some of that in greater detail. At the end of the day there will be rigorous assessments and confidential RFP documents will be provided from industry, but I am more than happy to give you the documents in terms of what they have to respond to, which will answer some of the questions that you have, I believe. We have said that contracts for difference are our preferred structure, but I am not going to give a commentary on the ones that come in as they come in. But I am more than happy to share with you the expectations that we have given to industry.