Abbott is sending a signal from his (our) government that...

Abbott is sending a signal from his (our) government that heavily tax-payer subsidised renewables are not supportable in the longer term - the industry must stand on it's own. Bit like the over-staying son/daughter who's just been pushed out the door/keys changed etc.

This is a very unpopular position from the point of view of the wind and solar industry and of course the Greens - who will never be in power in this country, so have the luxury of taking that stance.

But we are only talking Oz here, and only the current Govt., so this policy may change, and it has to be remembered that in other parts of the world the Green tax-paying romance is still in full dance mode, with both the UK and northern European countries embarking on massive off-shore wind projects over the next few years. This is despite the management/maintenance costs of such infrastructure being astronomical - representing 70 % !! of the overall cost of these systems.

As I have posted before, technological advances and diminishing costs of solar/battery supply, are going to turn the whole renewables sector on it's head. We are also IMO at a very interesting point in history, because the oldest large scale off shore wind farm in the world (Vindeby in Denmark) is now 24 years old - interesting because wind farms are designed typically for a 20 year life. Other better energy producing farms (Vindeby providing a big learning experience here) are younger, and have many years left in them - there having been a large expansion of the off shore industry roughly 12 years ago, and of course the industry itself claims that these farms are proving resilient and can be extended feasibly beyond that time horizon.

Even so, they cant change the fact that they are very large pieces of equipment, and all will increasingly represent a cost liability to maintain, plus are largely located in highly saline environments. As energy costs lower, these factors will IMO make the wind industry increasingly less attractive to Governments. Just will take some time.

So the wind adventurism has a fair way to go. It will take new tech advancements and a move away from centralised supply models (due to the unjustifiable MT LT costs) to change the culture around the world in my view.

Solar/battery will ultimately win the land battle in the war of the renewables - will be so, so cheap. That of course leaves a limitless amount of off-shore energy to be harvested, and only one natural resource on this planet runs 24/7 and never stops.

Cheers BC