The federal government's recently passed climate legislation would ensure regions such as the Hunter achieved a just and effective energy transition, Energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen has argued.
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He pointed to companies such as renewable energy technology company MGA Thermal, which manufactures energy storage bricks and proposed offshore wind projects as examples of the Hunter's capacity to evolve into a clean energy powerhouse.
The government estimates its Climate Change Bill, which was passed by 89 votes to 55 last week, will create 604,000 jobs nationally by 2030.
"Five out of six jobs created by our climate policies are in Australia's regions, none more so than in the Hunter," Mr Bowen said.
"The regions that have powered Australia so long, whether it be the Hunter, the Latrobe Gippsland, Collie Bunbury or Gladstone, will power Australia into the future. "And we will be investing to help create those jobs to provide the policy certainty for investment."
The company's breakthrough technology, known as Miscibility Gaps Alloy blocks, will help accelerate the shift to renewable energy by providing clean, economic, and scalable storage of energy.
The blocks can store heat for periods ranging from hours to days with minimal loss of energy.
"[This project] will demonstrate at a very sizeable scale, five megawatt hours, the whole technology envelope - the MGA blocks capturing electric energy, converting it to heat and storing it and being able to dispatch that energy via a steam boiler at useful temperatures and pressures," MGA Thermal founder and chief executive Erich Kisi said.
"The aim is to provide energy in and energy out signals and demonstrate to [potential investors] that it is suitable for their process or factory."
Mr Bowen also visited Tomago Aluminium and Bloomfield Colliery while in the Hunter.
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Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
