{"id":239598,"date":"2025-10-25T09:49:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/239598\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T09:49:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:49:27","slug":"just-plain-wrong-bowen-takes-aim-at-renewable-naysayers-says-82-per-cent-by-2030-can-be-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/239598\/","title":{"rendered":"“Just plain wrong:” Bowen takes aim at renewable naysayers, says 82 per cent by 2030 can be done"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen has emphatically reaffirmed his conviction that Australia can hit its renewable energy target of 82 per cent by 2030, and says claims that it can\u2019t be done are \u201cjust plain wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a speech at the AFR Climate Summit in Sydney on Wednesday, Bowen said he wanted to tackle the subject of the national target \u201chead on, and early,\u201d sending a message to critics and naysayers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI often read in newspapers, including in the Fin, that 82% by 2030\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0be achieved,\u201d the minister told the Summit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not inevitable,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not easy. In\u00a0fact\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a stretch, as it was intended to be.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut those who sit around in 2025 and say \u2018it\u2019s all too hard and we should give up\u2019 are, with respect,\u00a0just plain\u00a0wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowen says the \u201cfundamental error\u201d behind claims that 82 per cent renewables cannot be achieved comes down to a failure recognise\u00a0that already implemented\u00a0government policies are yet to have\u00a0their full\u00a0impact.<\/p>\n

He offers the Capacity Investment Scheme as an example of this, the latest tender for which was launched just last week<\/a>, days after announcing the\u00a0winners of most recent generation tender<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The newly expanded Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is now seeking 40 gigawatts of new wind, solar and storage, to deliver the bulk of the new capacity needed to reach 82 per cent renewables by 2030 \u2013 double the current levels in just five years.<\/p>\n

As Renew Economy has reported, the battery storage component of the CIS is working well, with a new batch of 16 projects awarded underwriting agreements in the latest tender and developers having little difficulty in proving their business case and landing finance.<\/p>\n

Large scale wind and solar projects, however, are taking longer to gear up. No new wind projects have reached financial close yet in 2025, and few of the wind and solar winners of the first CIS generation tender late last year have progressed.<\/p>\n

In an interview on a\u00a0recent episode<\/a>\u00a0of Renew Economy\u2019s Energy Insiders podcast, Bowen said he was happy with the way the CIS was playing out and confident of the role it would play in achieving the 2030 target.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s massively oversubscribed, which shows me that the pipeline of projects is big and strong, and that\u2019s why, one of the reasons why we extended it from 32 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts,\u201d Bowen said.<\/p>\n

In his speech on Wednesday, Bowen once again defended the CIS as \u201cmassively successful,\u201d while also stressing that it is a long-game policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is setting up new projects that will be delivered by 2030 but are at various stages of planning and approval,\u201d he told the Summit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this tells me that if we keep our foot on the\u00a0accelerator\u00a082% is attainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a huge\u00a0job,\u00a0it is a crucial job for the country, and we are getting on with it day by day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am often reminded that plenty of the same commentators who are voluble today wrote with certainty that Australia had no chance of getting to 20% renewable energy by 2020, and that target was achieved a year early.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was with a\u00a0government\u00a0that\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0even trying to achieve it!\u201d<\/p>\n

If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Your support is invaluable.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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