Antinuclear

Australia can have renewable energy AND energy security

Director of CME Bruce Mountain said while it would take time and preparation to change the nation’s generation mix, it was “entirely solvable” and had been done in places where renewables had made a large penetration of the energy market, such as Texas, Denmark, Portugal and Norway.

“There is nothing intrinsic to renewable capacity that implies a lower security and certainty of supply than a fossil system,” he said.

“There is nothing intrinsic to it. It is just not the case. There is a different mix of generation, a different operating regime of the existing capacity, a different operating regime of the power system and the transmission system, all of which is entirely within the skill set of engineers, power system operators, planners and so on.”

Nothing stopping Australia from having both energy security and renewable energies say experts, as Federal Government ramps up attacks, Examiner, Amy Remeikis
2 Oct 2016, There is no reason Australia can’t have energy security and a network increasingly reliant on renewables, energy experts say, as the Federal Government steps up its attacks on Labor state governments’ “aggressive” targets.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said he wanted the Labor state governments, which included Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, to “understand there is a cost and there are implications to these aggressive state-based renewable energy targets”.

But Mr Frydenberg was also forced to admit preliminary inquiries had shown the mass South Australian blackout that sparked the debate was the fault of an unprecedented storm, and not the state’s increasing reliance on renewable energy.

But Mr Frydenberg said the experience should be used as a starting point for a national conversation for what he called “aggressive” renewable energy targets set by Labor state governments and those targets could not take precedence over energy security. …….

“The Australian Energy Market Operator has pointed out as recently as August this year that, if the interconnectors between South Australia and Victoria went down, because of the high reliance on intermittent supply, namely wind and solar, there would be in their words, a high likelihood of a full regional blackout,” he said.

But energy experts said there was no reason the nation could not have energy security while transitioning to a power network more heavily reliant on clean energy.

Director of CME Bruce Mountain said while it would take time and preparation to change the nation’s generation mix, it was “entirely solvable” and had been done in places where renewables had made a large penetration of the energy market, such as Texas, Denmark, Portugal and Norway.

“There is nothing intrinsic to renewable capacity that implies a lower security and certainty of supply than a fossil system,” he said.

“There is nothing intrinsic to it. It is just not the case. There is a different mix of generation, a different operating regime of the existing capacity, a different operating regime of the power system and the transmission system, all of which is entirely within the skill set of engineers, power system operators, planners and so on.”

Dylan McConnell, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Energy Institute, said there was “no reason that energy security has to be compromised by having high penetrations of renewable energy”.

“Depending on where you look at which parts of the NEM [National Electricity Market] you look, there is an over-supply of capacity and you would expect that to…as more renewable energy comes in…you would expect plants to leave……..

Mr Frydenberg is due to meet with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the issue at an emergency meeting on Friday. http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4201980/nothing-stopping-australia-from-having-both-energy-security-and-renewable-energies-say-experts-as-federal-government-ramps-up-attacks/?cs=7

“The Australian Energy Market Operator has pointed out as recently as August this year that, if the interconnectors between South Australia and Victoria went down, because of the high reliance on intermittent supply, namely wind and solar, there would be in their words, a high likelihood of a full regional blackout,” he said.

But energy experts said there was no reason the nation could not have energy security while transitioning to a power network more heavily reliant on clean energy.

Director of CME Bruce Mountain said while it would take time and preparation to change the nation’s generation mix, it was “entirely solvable” and had been done in places where renewables had made a large penetration of the energy market, such as Texas, Denmark, Portugal and Norway.

“There is nothing intrinsic to renewable capacity that implies a lower security and certainty of supply than a fossil system,” he said.

“There is nothing intrinsic to it. It is just not the case. There is a different mix of generation, a different operating regime of the existing capacity, a different operating regime of the power system and the transmission system, all of which is entirely within the skill set of engineers, power system operators, planners and so on.”

Dylan McConnell, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Energy Institute, said there was “no reason that energy security has to be compromised by having high penetrations of renewable energy”.

“Depending on where you look at which parts of the NEM [National Electricity Market] you look, there is an over-supply of capacity and you would expect that to…as more renewable energy comes in…you would expect plants to leave……..

Mr Frydenberg is due to meet with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the issue at an emergency meeting on Friday. http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4201980/nothing-stopping-australia-from-having-both-energy-security-and-renewable-energies-say-experts-as-federal-government-ramps-up-attacks/?cs=7

“The Australian Energy Market Operator has pointed out as recently as August this year that, if the interconnectors between South Australia and Victoria went down, because of the high reliance on intermittent supply, namely wind and solar, there would be in their words, a high likelihood of a full regional blackout,” he said.

But energy experts said there was no reason the nation could not have energy security while transitioning to a power network more heavily reliant on clean energy.

Director of CME Bruce Mountain said while it would take time and preparation to change the nation’s generation mix, it was “entirely solvable” and had been done in places where renewables had made a large penetration of the energy market, such as Texas, Denmark, Portugal and Norway.

“There is nothing intrinsic to renewable capacity that implies a lower security and certainty of supply than a fossil system,” he said.

“There is nothing intrinsic to it. It is just not the case. There is a different mix of generation, a different operating regime of the existing capacity, a different operating regime of the power system and the transmission system, all of which is entirely within the skill set of engineers, power system operators, planners and so on.”

Dylan McConnell, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Energy Institute, said there was “no reason that energy security has to be compromised by having high penetrations of renewable energy”.

“Depending on where you look at which parts of the NEM [National Electricity Market] you look, there is an over-supply of capacity and you would expect that to…as more renewable energy comes in…you would expect plants to leave……..

Mr Frydenberg is due to meet with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the issue at an emergency meeting on Friday. http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4201980/nothing-stopping-australia-from-having-both-energy-security-and-renewable-energies-say-experts-as-federal-government-ramps-up-attacks/?cs=7

October 3, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy