Collaborate, innovate or die

Collaborate, innovate or die. That will be one of the key messages delivered to the delegates attending the clean energy industry event, All-Energy Australia. The event will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 15-16 October.

At the moment there is a severe lack of certainty in the industry, said Greg Pope, business manager for energy and resources with Frazer-Nash. Pope will tell the attendees that “change has to happen. It is a case of collaborate, innovate or fail.”

Frazer-Nash works with clean energy developers in marine, wind and solar power and also has clients in transport, defence and the oil and gas industry.

The focus in a lot of other sectors is moving towards asset management and the long-term sustainability of enterprises; this hasn’t been the case in the clean energy industry, said Pope. “It is imperative that rather than just concerning themselves with getting projects off the ground, clean energy developers, investors and regulators concentrate on wider issues such as installation, operation, maintenance, decommissioning and disposal.”

The best outcomes are achieved by addressing these types of issues during the design phase.

While we’ve lived with a centralised electricity model for some time, with prices increasing rapidly and consumers and businesses feeling frustrated by the lack of options, change is imperative, said Lyle De Sousa, a commercial lawyer and mechanical engineer and founder of Legal Energy Lawyers and Consultants.

In addressing All-Energy Australia 2014, he will say that “we need to move to a far more flexible and decentralised structure that accommodates new business models”.

“The regulatory regime we have is geared to the old order. People need to work together to ensure innovative projects are established, allowing consumers and businesses to take greater control of the way they source their electricity.

De Sousa is confident we will end up with “a revolutionary system over the next 10 to 15 years, but the form it will take will be dependent upon the mindset of developers and network businesses”.

Ric Brazzale, managing director of Green Energy Trading, an environmental credit agent, said the biggest challenge facing the renewables industry is the federal government review of the renewal energy target (RET).

“Activity will halve. More than 6000 people will lose their jobs and I promise you I am not being alarmist - they are the cold, hard facts,” said Brazzale. The solar industry is made up of more than 4000 businesses - predominantly small businesses - around the country.

Brazzale said more than 1.3 million Australian families have already embraced solar energy and if the renewable energy scheme is left alone that number will double in five years. He is calling for policy certainty from the federal government, asking it to leave the RET as it is and allow industry to “get on with the business of investing in and developing new projects”. Brazzale said, “Industry will be brought to its knees, unless it does a better job selling its ‘solar is good’ message to politicians and the broader community.

“We need a grass roots campaign. Businesses have to get out there and pound the pavement, make contact with local MPs and demonstrate the benefits of the projects they continue to undertake.”

More than 120 speakers and in excess of 150 local and overseas exhibitors will participate in All-Energy, with much interest from Europe and Asia. Upwards of 5000 people with a professional interest in clean and renewal energy from about 25 countries are expected to attend the free multistream conference and exhibition.