Bid to bring cutting edge green tech to Geelong - Oil giant Esso – owned by Exxon Mobile – recently announced plans to decommission its retired oil platforms in the Bass Strait.
From the Geelong Advertiser.
Environmental activists have called on community leaders to bring cutting-edge renewable technology to Corio Bay.
less than 2 min read
November 9, 2023 - 4:05PM
Geelong Advertiser
Environmentalists have called on community leaders to bring cutting-edge renewable technology to Corio Bay.
Oil giant Esso – owned by Exxon Mobile – recently announced plans to decommission its retired oil platforms in the Bass Strait.
More than 10 ageing structures – some more than 60 years old – will be pulled apart in coming years.
Now, environmentalists have called on the company and key public officials to support the set up of a best-practice breaking and recycling yard at Corio Bay that could cater for tonnes of steel from the ageing platforms.
Under the plan, understood to have been floated by the company as part of the decommissioning process, the steel could be processed in an electric smelter and turned into wind turbine towers and bases.
Offshore fossil gas campaigner Jeff Waters said the field could be a chance for Geelong to further invest in renewable energy.
“The oil and gas industry should pay for the construction of the recycling yard, given that it’s their mess that needs to be cleaned up,” he said.
“And the best way to do that is by increasing or indefinitely extending the existing temporary decommissioning levy now being paid by the entire offshore industry.”
Mr Waters, from Friends of the Earth, called on state and federal representatives to support the push.
When asked about the proposal, a GeelongPort spokesperson said the port was exploring a “number of strategic opportunities for our vacant parcels of land within the port precinct”.
While the state government didn’t comment on the Geelong proposal specifically, a spokeswoman said the country needed to work to reduce its consumption of fossil fuels.
“The decommissioning of offshore gas infrastructure presents exciting opportunities to repurpose the materials as part of Victoria’s renewable energy future – supporting local jobs and the circular economy,” she said.
“Victoria is rapidly reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, with a target of 95 per cent renewable energy generation by 2035 and of use energy efficiency, electrification, renewable hydrogen and biomethane to drive down bills and cut emissions.”