The idea of using waste gases generated in the steel making process to fire an electricity generator was brilliant. At present, these valuable assets are burned off in a flare and simply add to pollution.
There can be no surprise that plans for a cogeneration plant - to cost about a billion dollars - have been put on hold and are now at least a generation away !
Nobody is going to spend a billion dollars to install electricity production until this carbon price matter is settled - and with it the fate of steel making in Wollongong - or for that matter - in Australia.
Across the wider commercial spectrum a whole lot of other expansion plans will be put on hold until the futures picture becomes clearer. A carbon price is only an interim measure, preceding a carbon trading regime - and it would be a brave soul who could predict how that will impact on any measure of business activity until the rules are finally made clear.
And all this is happening when we are fighting our way out of a recession - when confidence is needed to bite the bullet and put development plans into action.
So much for that old - and true adage - that timing is everything !
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