Boyer Paper Mill owner David Marriner warns 340 positions under threat as limited renewable energy eats into budget
David Marriner, the CEO of Boyer Paper Mill in Tasmania, lamented the setbacks he has faced as he tries to electrify his business.
Boyer Paper Mill currently spends about $12m per year on coal which the company imports from Newcastle after it lost its Tasmanian source three years ago, according to Mr Marriner.
It sought to install electric boilers to greatly reduce emissions but the state-owned power company Hydro Tasmania said it did not have enough power to supply the mill.
'To my amazement, I sit in the commercial strip on Collins St to be told there's simply not the power,' Mr Marriner said.
Boyer was unable to secure the power despite the federal government investing $9m into the paper mill in part to facilitate its decarbonisation.
Mr Marriner stressed the paper mill needed the same power arrangements as fellow industrial users that are offered competitive prices.
'What we're keen to have (is) nothing more or nothing less than the prices that are being provided to the other two or three equivalent major suppliers,' he said.
'We just want the same terms and conditions. We don't want to be paying more than what our competitors are. I'm absolutely shattered and disappointed.'
He said if the mill was unable to secure hydro power from Tasmania the business would be 'unsustainable' as the company forks out $12m per year for coal from NSW.
'The political system forced the closure and access to coal in Tasmania to us,' Mr Marriner said.
"Why should 340 employees take the burden of stupid decisions? Why should they lose jobs?"
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year pledged $24m to the mill as part of Labor's lavish pre-election cash splashes.
Of that cash injection, about $9m was to "stabilise its operations and prepare major investments to decarbonise and diversify its production".
'Boyer Paper Mill is an iconic part of Tasmania's manufacturing story,' the Prime Minister said in April.
'It was Australia's first ever newsprint mill built in the 1940s, and thousands of Tasmanians have worked here over that time.
'We want to see the mill continue well into the future, and that is why we are committing up to $24m to help Boyer secure local jobs and supply chains and move forward with confidence towards a low-emissions future.'
The power price struggles for Boyer Paper Mill comes as a litany of manufacturers around the country struggle to remain viable.
Rio Tinto-owned aluminium smelter Tomago located north of Newcastle, is reportedly seeking billions of dollars in public funds to prevent collapse.
Meanwhile, a zinc and lead producer Myrstar Australia is also seeking government handouts as it loses "tens of millions a month".
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