Boyer paper mill 'is unsustainable' without additional power for crucial upgrades, says owner
The day that we took ownership, which was on the 14th of April, my wife and I were in Norway securing the delivery of a new electro-boiler system to make sure that we could, within 18 months, remove effectively that contamination from both the atmosphere and something that all Tasmanians could be pretty proud of. Because in fact, it's the equivalent. If you think about it, it's the equivalent of producing or removing 30 per cent of the cars off the roads of Tasmania.
Leon Compton
So you want to shift away from burning coal to run your operations out there? And you want to do that with electricity?
David Marriner
Well, not only are we, we are committed to do that, we have a federal government that come in and back us to the tune of $15 million, a dollar-for-dollar grant to effectively secure that outcome because they're very conscious as a federal government, very conscious of environmental issues, they're committed, they're absolutely, they were there in fact on the same day as we settled. So, you know, announcing all of that. And yet, you know, to my amazement, I sit in the middle of the commercial strip of Collins Street to be told, well, they're simply not the power.
Leon Compton
Is the issue that there's not the power for you to do this upgrade? Or is it that there's not power cheap enough to fit your business plan?
David Marriner
No, no, no. In fact, on the 17th of June, we were made aware that there would be potentially the ability to provide that additional power from Victoria, but the cost would be significant. And I just thought that, well, the whole idea for us was to produce a carbon neutral outcome, a clean energy element. The moment we go back to connecting to Victoria, we connect to dirty energy again.
Leon Compton
Is what you're asking for from the Hydro or indeed from the state's energy grid, power on the same terms as you're getting it under legacy deals that say it provided incredibly cheaply to major industrials?
David Marriner
Yeah, what we're keen to have, nothing more or nothing less than what the prices that have been provided to the other two or three equivalent major suppliers. We just want the same terms and conditions. We don't want to be paying more than what our competitors are. And so I'm absolutely shattered. I'm shattered and disappointed because we intended to build a factory, which we've just finished completing. As you know, the factory infrastructure that built the segments for the bridge, that was to convert to build now housing. And it makes no sense for us to continue with that if we can't get the power.
Leon Compton
So what happens now? What if you can't get power through Hydro or through the network here in Tasmania at prices that are competitive? What if you can't do that?
David Marriner
Well, obviously the mill is unsustainable like every other base load power customer is in Tasmania. The reality is we write a checkout today for another 4 million of coal, another $4 million worth of coal purchased for the next couple of months. And we ship it in from, we ship it in actually, Leon, from, you know, people would find this laughable. We, you know, from, we are now shipping coal in to furnish the mill from New South Wales. That has put an additional 12 million cost on our operation. $12 million additional cost because the political system forced the closure and access to coal in Tasmania to us. Why should we pay that? More importantly, ask yourself, why should 340 employees take the burden of stupid decisions? Why should they lose jobs?
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