Hydro Tasmania has been promoting renewable energy development as a climate change mitigation strategy for a decade and the risks to the business from climate change have long been recognised.

In the past 12 months, climate change has caught the attention of the public and politicians around the world as more and more people recognise it is the biggest environmental challenge of our time. As Australia’s leading renewable energy business, Hydro Tasmania is well placed to respond from a business perspective and we are examining our strategic approach to climate change at our Board and management levels.

In May 2007, a manager for climate change strategy was appointed to oversee a coordinated assessment of potential climate change impacts and business responses to address the risks and opportunities and guide strategic decisions about our activities directly related to climate change.

Renewable energy

Hydro Tasmania has long recognised the climate change imperative as a driver for renewable energy development and a potential competitive advantage, and has accordingly used the outstanding wind resources in Tasmania to develop wind farms as another means of renewable energy generation (the first wind turbine was installed on King Island in 1998). Hydro Tasmania has been prominent in the promotion of renewable energy through sponsoring and supporting industry associations, particularly since the Prime Minister’s 1997 ‘Measures for a Better Environment’ announcement, which saw the development and introduction of the Federal Government’s Mandated Renewable Energy Target created by the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.

Creating Roaring 40s from our investment in wind farms, and promoting this business to a joint venture in renewable energy development with the additional resources of CLP, was another step in Hydro Tasmania realising the benefits from our renewable energy positioning.