Introduction The purpose of this study is to first, outline the scale of potential domestic demand and supply for onshore and offshore wind-towers used in electricity generation; second, determine the barriers to and benefits from increased domestically produced wind towers and equipment; and finally, identify feasible and efficient industry policies to reduce these barriers to increased local sup. [...] The objective of industry policy is to shape the industrial structure and improve the performance of firms and industry typically directed at multiple objectives of lifting productivity, innovation, employment, investment and exports. [...] Increasing the share of manufacturing industry in total output and improving the performance of manufacturing are central objectives of industry policy historically and currently.2 Underpinning the resurgence of industrial policy is a dramatic shift in perception of the legitimate role of government in economic development. [...] The most transparent examples of this fundamental shift are the industry policies embodied in the US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have driven a renaissance in US manufacturing industry (Joyce and Stanford 2023). [...] One link in the causal chain between inequality and lower growth is diminished educational participation and attainment of a large proportion of the population.7 Reduced acquisition of human capital limits the generation and diffusion of new technologies and restricts productivity (OECD 2014).
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Table of Contents
- An Industrial Strategy for Domestic Manufacturing of Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy Towers and Equipment 1
- By Phil Toner The Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute October 2024 1
- Table of Contents 3
- 1. Introduction 5
- 2. Global Resurgence of Industry Policy 11
- 2.1 NEOLIBERALISMS ABANDONMENT OF INDUSTRY POLICY 12
- 3. Global Wind Tower Demand and Supply 22
- 3.1 WHAT IS A WIND TOWER 22
- 3.2 GLOBAL WIND TOWER PRODUCTION 24
- 3.3 GROWTH OF WIND POWER 26
- 3.4 GLOBAL WIND POWER MANUFACTURING SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS 28
- 3.5 GLOBAL WIND TURBINE AND TOWER MANUFACTURING SUPPLY CHAIN RISKS 30
- 3.6 GLOBAL RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION EQUIPMENT POLICY AND INSTRUMENTS 33
- 3.7 WIND GENERATION EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY POLICY COUNTRY CASE STUDIES 37
- 3.8 ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES 41
- 4. Australian Wind Tower Demand and Supply 43
- 4.1 SCALE OF CURRENT AND FUTURE DEMAND IN AUSTRALIA FOR ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE WIND TOWERS 43
- 4.2 CURRENT SUPPLY OF WIND TOWERS LOCAL PRODUCTION CAPACITY AND GREENFIELD COST OF WORLD SCALE PLANT 51
- 5. Barriers to Local Manufacture of Wind Towers 57
- 5.1 LOCATION OF PRESENT WIND TOWER FACTORIES 57
- 5.2 SCALE OF CURRENT WIND TOWER FACTORIES 58
- 5.3 NON PRE-QUALIFICATION OF LOCAL PRODUCERS 60
- 5.4 GLOBAL WIND TURBINE MARKET 61
- 5.5 DEFICIENT INDUSTRY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY 62
- 5.6 ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES IN OTHER COUNTRIES 65
- 5.7 REMOVAL OF DOMESTIC ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES 65
- 5.8 NON-ENFORCEMENT OF ENGINEERING AND QUALITY STANDARDS 66
- 5.9 CURRENT AND PROJECTED SKILLS SHORTAGES 67
- 5.10 LOCAL PLATE STEEL SUPPLY 68
- 6. Benefits of Local Tower Manufacture 69
- 6.1 FROM TOWERS TO TURBINES 69
- 6.2 REDRESSING SOVEREIGN RISK 69
- 6.3 OUTPUT AND EMPLOYMENT 69
- 6.4 ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY 70
- 6.5 REGIONAL JOBS 71
- 6.6 STEEL AND GREEN STEEL 71
- 6.7 LOCAL PRODUCTION REDUCES CO2 SEA TRANSPORT EMISSIONS 74
- 7. Conclusion and Policy Options 76
- 7.1 WIND TOWER PRODUCTION SATISFIES INDUSTRY POLICY CRITERIA 76
- 7.2 SPECIFIC POLICY MEASURES 76
- 7.3 A CALL TO ACTION 81
- Appendix 1 83
- DATA AND ASSUMPTIONS FOR AEMO ISP ONSHORE WIND TOWER DEMAND. AUSTRALIA 2023-24 TO 2050-51 83
- References 84
