At least in the State of South Australia there is a plan for energy self sufficiency
At least there is a plan in South Australia, albeit one that will place its drive for self-sufficiency in conflict with the operation of the National Electricity Market.
Provided there is decent backup power generation there shouldn’t be an issue with developing VPPs and new forms of energy storage so that they can be refined and more affordable in time.
Role of batteries provides aspirational charge to energy debate , The Australian, 16 Mar 17 CHRIS GRIFFITH Technology reporter Sydney @chris_griffith Call it battery fetishism if you must, but batteries are going to play an even bigger role in power sources being tested in Australia. Take for example the virtual power plant concept which has gone live in South Australia.
A VPP comprises hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes each with solar panels where excess energy is stored in batteries. Instead of operating as separate entities, energy stored in those batteries is made available in unison to the grid at times of peak load or an outage.
An outside body such as an energy retailer co-ordinates the flow of battery power back to the grid. For the rest of the time, consumers self-manage their stored solar power. Continue reading
South Australian govt calls for battery storage offers within two weeks
S.A. wants first round battery storage offers within two weeks http://reneweconomy.com.au/s-a-wants-first-round-battery-storage-offers-within-two-weeks-92337/ By Giles Parkinson on 15 March 2017
Snowy Hydro a “thought bubble” – not a solution to present energy problems
Snowy Hydro expansion won’t be ‘magical’ solution to power problems, experts say, ABC Radio The World Today By Nick Grimm 16 Mar 17 Engineering experts are less critical than the South Australian Premier but some are warning that the expansion of the hydro-electric scheme won’t be a “magical” solution to Australia’s power problems.
And they point out that it is an old idea that has previously been ruled out as too expensive…….
Max Talbot, the former executive officer of Strategic Engineering at the Snowy Hydro Scheme, told ABC Local Radio previous expansion plans had proved too expensive.”We did look at that prospect briefly, expanding the scheme goes back nearly 20 years ago,” he said. “If he’s [Malcolm Turnbull] talking about what I think he’s talking about, then that was considered a feasible but far too expensive at the time…….
Energy experts wary over hydro expansion But with the details of the plan yet to be resolved, energy experts are inclined to reserve judgement on whether the plan is the answer to Australia’s looming power shortage.
The Grattan Institute’s Tony Wood said the project faced so many stumbling blocks and was unlikely to be a “magical panacea”. “The real question here is the economics,” Mr Wood said. “And whether it’s privately owned or publicly owned, is this a good use of public funds? That’s going to be the trick for the feasibility of the study to determine.
“And that would also be therefore the reason why no-one has leapt into this before. “To be fair some of the really sharp issues only started to crystallise in the last six months or so, particularly for example with the announced shut down of the Hazelwood power station.”
That is echoed by another energy economist — Danny Price from Frontier Economics.As he told RN Breakfast, he is sceptical about the plan’s viability, especially given the shared ownership of the scheme, split between the Commonwealth, Victorian and New South Wales governments.
“I’ve worked on the Snowy Hydro corporation over many years, and let me say getting anything done in the Snowy is extremely difficult as it involves the three governments that own it,” he said.
“So at this stage I would regard the Snowy proposal as a thought bubble, and it’s a bit like saying ‘I’m about to begin building a boat and rescue someone’ — it will be years off before anything happens.“…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/snowy-hydro-expansion-wont-be-magical-solution-to-power-problems/8360320
Malcolm Turnbull talks up his grand Snowy Hydro energy scheme, “better than solar and batteries”
Malcolm Turnbull says Snowy Hydro plan will outdo South Australian battery storage
PM says plan would turn Snowy Hydro into energy storage system but Labor says proposal leaves unanswered questions, Guardian, Gabrielle Chan, 16 Mar 17, Malcolm Turnbull has used his expansion plans for the Snowy Hydro to try to outdo South Australia on battery storage, saying it would provide 20 times the capacity of the battery system proposed by the premier, Jay Weatherill. Continue reading
Daylesford’s community renewable energy success
Renewables roadshow: how Daylesford’s windfarm took back the power
In the first of a series about Australian communities building renewable energy projects, we look at how Victoria’s Hepburn Shire overcame local opposition to deliver a new homegrown, community-owned generator, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 15 Mar 17 From the fertile spud-growing country of Hepburn Shire, 90km northwest of Melbourne, has sprung what many hope will become a revolution in renewable energy in Australia.
On Leonards Hill, just outside the town of Daylesford – famed for its natural springs – stand two wind turbines that not only power the local area, but have also added substantial power to the community-owned renewable energy movement in Australia.
The turbines, cheesily called Gusto and Gale, constitute the very first community-owned windfarm in Australia. It borrows the idea from a long tradition of community-owned power that was forgotten in Australia, but lives on strongly in Denmark.
“In Denmark there’s over 2,100 versions of this,” says Taryn Lane, the community manager for Hepburn Wind, the cooperative that owns and operates the windfarm. “Their model – this way of owning your own energy generator locally – emerged in the late 70s, so they have been doing it for decades.” .
It was at a community meeting for a large corporate-owned windfarm, like the one near Hepburn, that the idea for Hepburn Wind emerged…….
the group had overwhelming local support. “We are a cooperative of 2,007 members,” says Lane. “They’ve contributed just under $10m.”
The majority of the investors are from the local region, something the cooperative has written into its rules.Paul Howden is one of them. As with most investors in community-owned renewable energy, his motivations were a mix of hard-nosed financial ones, and the desire to do a bit of good. “Partly, obviously because it’s a renewable energy project,” he says, explaining his investment. “But also because we thought it was a good and wise investment for our super fund.
“This is a win-win for both the environment [and] the community.”
One of the things that made him confident that the project was a good investment, he says, was the level of community support it received, and the passion of the people running it.
But beyond the construction of the 4.1MW windfarm – enough to power about 2,300 households – Hepburn Wind pioneered the modern large-scale community-ownership model of renewable energy in Australia, which is now being replicated around the country.
Simon Holmes à Court was the founding chairman of Hepburn Wind. And after spending years developing a model that worked, and navigating the various logistical potholes in getting it up and running, he set up Embark, a non-profit company dedicated to helping other community energy projects adopt the Hepburn model.
Several projects around the country have received advice and support from Embark, including Pingala, which gathered locals in Sydney’s Newtown to build a solar array on the top of a brewery, and the Sydney Renewable Power Company, which recently built Australia’s largest CBD solar farm.
But back in Hepburn shire, not satisfied with the windfarm, the residents are expanding the renewables in their area.
By a picturesque lake in Daylesford, where locals go to swim and cool off, is an antique hydro generator, which used to power a few homes around the lake, and the lake’s lights. “It kept the lake area electrified,” says Lane.
In February, that was made possible when the energy retailer that buys Hepburn Wind’s electricity – Powershop – announced it had crowdfunded more than $100,000 for community-owned renewable energy projects, and one project that would receive a slice of it was Hepburn Wind’s hydro project.
“The original size was 13kWs or just under,” says Lane. “And we will look to somewhere between there and maybe up to 40kWs if we can put a side-by-side motor next to it.”
She says that will be enough to power about eight to 12 houses – not a huge amount, but it’s an easy win.
And with Hepburn shire adding its name to a growing list of councils shooting to reduce their emissions to zero, every bit counts. Says Lane: “At Hepburn Wind we really want to play our role in helping our community reach zero net emissions.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/15/renewables-roadshow-community-owned-windfarm-daylesford-hepburn-australia
Turnbull panders to gas industry as part of his attack on Labor States Victoria and South Australia
Phoney energy crisis merely a ploy to access off-limits gas, SMH, Waleed Aly, 17 Mar 17, Turns out manufacturing is alive and well in Australia. Only these days we’re manufacturing crises. This week’s exhibit is from the gas industry, which having witnessed the energy market regulator’s grave warnings that we’d all be having cold showers in the dark in a couple of years, found itself summoned to the Prime Minister’s table…..
By 2020, production capacity looks set to increase another 30 per cent. Even if demand is increasing – and that’s not absolutely clear – it’s not keeping pace with that……..
What’s much easier to believe, though, is that the gas industry is desperate to get its hands on gas supplies that are off limits – especially controversial ones like, say, coal seam gas. And if they have to offer a little more domestic supply to do it – at a time when global demand is slowing anyway – then it’s hardly a sacrifice. Oh, and as it happens, that’s exactly what Turnbull would like to offer them, hence his condemnation of the states’ bans on further gas extraction.
It’s a neat trick, really. Take a country with enough gas to supply itself “indefinitely”, send the vast majority of it overseas, refuse to sell locally at a fair price, create a domestic shortage, then demand access to some of our most environmentally sensitive resources as though it’s an emergency measure.
And if you’re going to pull a trick like that, this is the government to pull it on. Sure, Turnbull announced some useful initiatives to increase transparency in the market. But the Turnbull government’s energy wars have led it to the point that it simply cannot resist any opportunity to turn this back on the (Labor) states. It’s only too happy to paint this as a problem of Victoria or South Australia’s creation, as though gas companies have been passive observers, …http://www.smh.com.au/comment/phoney-energy-crisis-merely-a-ploy-to-access-offlimits-gas-20170315-guz8pb.html
‘World’s largest virtual power plant’ now working in West Lakes in Adelaide
SA power: ‘World’s largest virtual power plant’ switched on at West Lakes in Adelaide, ABC News By Matt Coleman, 16 Mar 17, What is being called the world’s largest residential virtual power plant (VPP) has gone live in suburban Adelaide, where reliability of power supply is the dominant public policy issue.
The VPP is an initiative of power company AGL and involves solar panels and battery storage at hundreds of properties being linked together to form a five-megawatt virtual solar power station.”Our South Australian VPP demonstration is a practical example of the new energy future,” AGL’s managing director and CEO Andy Vesey said.
“We believe the VPP will deliver benefits … .by providing another source of generation to deploy into the network.”
He said the environment would also benefit from reduced emissions.
AGL said the Federal Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), was providing up to $5 million to support the $20 million project.
The project is different to standard home battery storage because the batteries’ operation can be directed remotely.
As well as being used to help power the home they are in, they can also be directed — all at once — to service the grid when overall system stability or reliability is under pressure…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/virtual-power-plant/8358894
Big Solar is coming to Australia
Big solar interview: Impact Investment’s Lane Crockett http://reneweconomy.com.au/big-solar-interview-impact-investments-lane-crockett-91334/ By Giles Parkinson on 15 March 2017
Its head of renewables, Lane Crockett, a former head of Pacific Hydro’s Australian operations, is to speak at the Large Scale Solar Conference to be jointly hosted by RenewEconomy and Informa early next month.
Here, he shares his thoughts about the industry, including opportunities, solar costs and battery storage.
RE: Lane, what’s attracted you (personally) to the large scale solar industry.
Crockett: There are four main factors that attract me to large scale solar:
- The speed to market (less planning time and takes half the time to build a solar farm relative to a wind farm);
- Fewer complicated community issues in the planning and development phases;
- The price of solar farms has fallen considerably, making it the most competitive new build power in some jurisdictions; and
- The time of day generation highly correlates with demand.
RE: What specifically is Impact Investment Group’s goal?
Crockett: Impact Investment Group is aiming to have a pipeline of $1BN of renewable infrastructure investment by 2020. We want to direct large amounts of capital towards investments with positive impacts.
RE: Why the interest in the 1MW to 30MW market?
Crockett: Whilst we are now looking at bigger facilities, we find that we are most competitive in the small to medium range of utility scale plants.
RE: Will there be enough choice of assets? is there really that many being built?
Crockett: Yes; there are many projects being developed. The most challenging part is designing the final commercial arrangements which underpin the building and operation of new projects.
RE: Are there any announcements imminent?
Crockett: Yes, but we’re not going to break news right now. Investors should keep an eye out.
RE: Where is the price of solar going?
Crockett: Solar continues to defy expectations as it continues to fall in cost. Not only are equipment costs continuing to fall but the construction market in Australia has become more competitive as contractors become more confident in their delivery methods and costs.
RE: Are you considering storage?
Crockett: Yes, but investment in storage remains problematic as there is no market mechanism to underpin that investment, except the spot price arbitrage, which is a risky strategy.
RE: How far are we from having a grid dominated by solar (and wind) instead of coal and gas?
Crockett: I think 5 – 10 years. It’s certainly feasible and Australia must do it to meet our international obligations to keep global warming under 2 degrees. If you consider the benefits that its a healthier form of electricity production and financially compelling for investors and consumers alike, then it’s a compelling case.
RenewEconomy and Informa’s jointly hosted Big Solar conference will be held in Sydney on April 6 and 7. More details can be found here.
Business Council of Australia wants emissions intensity scheme
Australia’s peak business lobby calls for emissions intensity scheme,
Business Council of Australia joins growing push for ‘signal that will support the investment needed for the electricity system’, Guardian, Gabrielle Chan, 16 Mar 17, The nation’s peak business body has joined the growing calls for an emissions intensity scheme (EIS) and argued coal-fired power stations should give three years notice for closure in its submission to the chief scientist’s electricity review.
Jennifer Westacott, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) also called for no further changes to the renewable energy target (RET), given it was the foundation significant investments. She also said there was no need for state-based targets.
Westacott, representing the biggest businesses in the country, argued that in the medium to long term, an EIS was both technology-neutral and would provide the policy signal currently missing to drive investment in energy.The nation’s peak business body has joined the growing calls for an emissions intensity scheme (EIS) and argued coal-fired power stations should give three years notice for closure in its submission to the chief scientist’s electricity review.
Jennifer Westacott, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) also called for no further changes to the renewable energy target (RET), given it was the foundation significant investments. She also said there was no need for state-based targets.
Westacott, representing the biggest businesses in the country, argued that in the medium to long term, an EIS was both technology-neutral and would provide the policy signal currently missing to drive investment in energy…….
The BCA’s submission is the latest to urge the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, to recommend an EIS for the energy sector, effectively imposing a carbon price. Other groups calling for an EIS or carbon market mechanism include Energy Networks Australia, retailer Energy Australia, electricity provider AGL, the Climate Change Authority, the National Farmers Federation and the CSIRO…….https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/16/australias-peak-business-lobby-calls-for-emissions-intensity-scheme
Sydney Morning Herald on radioactive waste dump – ignores Lucas’ Heights’ high level nuclear reactor waste
Controversial nuclear waste plans back under the spotlight, SMH, Steven Trask , 14 Mar 17 Issues at two of Australia’s largest radioactive waste storage facilities have put a controversial government plan back under the spotlight.
For years the federal government has tried in vain to build a national dump for the country’s nuclear waste. Staunch opposition from prospective locations has repeatedly stalled the project, which opponents believe is an environmental disaster waiting to happen.
Each year Australia produces about a shipping container full of low and intermediate-level waste through industrial, medical and research applications. Much of the country’s waste is stored at a CSIRO facility in Woomera, South Australia, and a government warehouse in Lucas Heights, Sydney.
Lucas Heights is approaching full capacity and Fairfax Media has revealed significant concerns about conditions at the CSIRO facility…….
The search for a publicly acceptable site to store nuclear waste has plagued successive governments since the doomed National Repository Project in 1992.
Started by the Labour government in 1992, the project was wound-up without success in 2004 by Liberal Prime Minister John Howard. ……
Last week the government announced two sites in Kimba, South Australia, had been formally nominated by landowners to host the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility…….http://www.smh.com.au/national/controversial-nuclear-waste-plans-back-under-the-spotlight-20170308-gutd72.html
The Consultation and Response Agency (CARA) about nuclear policy closing. Will its report be made public?
Dear Mr Weatherill,
‘The Consultation and Response Agency (CARA), which delivered the state’s largest engagement program on record last year, and the CARA Advisory Board, have now provided their final advice to Government and will be closed.’
South Australian govt releases new plan for reliable, affordable and clean power.
South Australia’s new energy plan released http://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/4529329/south-australias-new-energy-plan-released/?cs=4180 A $550 million energy plan unveiled by the South Australian government will aim to improve the reliability of statewide power.Premier Jay Weatherill released details of the plan on Tuesday, March 14, saying the goal was delivering “reliable, affordable and clean” power.
The state government expects the plan to create 630 new jobs in South Australia. South Australian Power for South Australians will ensure more of the State’s power is sourced, generated and controlled in South Australia.
The plan will include:
- Building Australia’s largest battery to store energy from the wind and sun, part of a new Renewable Technology Fund that supports clean, dispatchable and affordable power
- Building a government-owned 250MW gas-fired power plant to provide emergency back-up power and system stability services for South Australians, in the meantime procuring temporary back-up generation if necessary
- Introducing new Ministerial powers to direct the market to operate in the interests of South Australians
- Incentivising increased gas production to ensure more of our State’s gas is sourced and used in South Australia
- Introducing an Energy Security Target to ensure our power system uses more clean, secure energy generated in South Australia
- Using the Government’s purchasing power through its own electricity contract to attract a new power generator, increasing competition in the marketThe new gas-fired power plant is budgeted to cost $360 million, $150 million will be committed to the SA Renewable Technology Fund and new PACE grants are worth $24 million.
Commenting on the plan, Mr Weatherill said coal-fired power stations closing across Australia, no “coherent” national energy policy and “ideological attacks on renewable energy” had led to under-investment in new energy sources.
“The privatisation of our state’s energy assets has placed an enormous amount of power in the hands of a few energy companies,” he said. “These factors, together, have led to too little competition in our national energy market. It is a market that benefits the owners of the privatised assets, rather than the people and businesses who depend on this essential service.” He said the plan’s goal is to make the state more self-reliant. “Our plan will make our power supply more reliable, put downward pressure on prices and create jobs,”
“In the longer term, South Australia will become more self-reliant for its power supply. “As a state that has built its reputation on its clean green environment, this plan recognises that clean energy is our future.”
The South Australian Liberal party has not responded to the plan yet.
A cutting edge, dual-fuel power station ould be operating in the Upper Spencer Gulf region within months.
ZEN Energy and Santos push new solar, gas power station in Upper Spencer Gulf Daniel Wills, State Political Editor, The Advertiser March 13, 2017 CLEAN solar power would be backed up by reliable gas energy in a cutting edge, dual-fuel power station for SA that could be operating in the Upper Spencer Gulf region within months.
Clinton Pryor’s Walk for Justice from Perth – through Port Augusta
Clinton Pryor’s Walk for Justice comes through Port Augusta http://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/4516323/big-crowd-for-justice-walk/ 8 Mar 2017 The Joy Baluch Bridge and parts of Port Augusta were shaking under the loud voice of Clinton Pryor’s Walk for Justice on Wednesday March 8. Starting outside the Standpipe Motel at 10am, the walk went up the Augusta Highway and across the Joy Baluch Bridge. The group then travelled down Mackay and Young Street, before finalising with speeches and a community barbecue on the Port Augusta foreshore.
The crowd included kids under 10 to retirees, all of whom were supportive of achieving justice for Aboriginal people. Chants heard during the walk included, ‘When your rights are under attack, stand up, fight back!’ and ‘Always was, and always will be Aboriginal land!’.
It left Clinton speechless, and thankful for all the help and support he’s received from Port AugustIt was amazing to see the community backing me up in this walk I did over the bridge
“It was unbelievable and I’m really proud of Port Augusta and seeing everyone together in one group is really good,” he said.
In September 2016, Clinton left from Matargarup, near Perth, to Uluru, Coober Pedy, on his way to Canberra.Along the way he’s spent time in Aboriginal communities; meeting with elders, hearing their stories, talking with school kids and community groups.
The walk centres around holding governments to account over their treatment of Aboriginal communities around Australia and bringing justice for non-Aboriginal Australians too. Port Augusta Barngarla man Stephen Atkinson was part of the walk across the bridge and said he, and many others in Port Augusta, are proud of Clinton’s efforts. “Hopefully we’re all equally proud of walking across the bridge with Clinton as you should be, we should be really proud of ourselves,” he said. “Port Augusta, we all know is the crossroads of the country, we got that many different mobs here, and 30 odd different languages spoken in this town.
“We’re all different tribes, we’re all different language groups, we’re from all different parts of the country, but when something like this is on we all come together and we’re one people.”
For more information and photos taken during Clinton’s Walk for Justice, make sure to visit his website, www.clintonswalkforjustice.org.
In South Africa, Australia’s top nuclear industry propagandist is rubbishing renewable energy
Heard told Fin24 that the suggestion that renewables could be the bulk source of energy supply is “preposterous”
The nuclear energy sector should be treated as a normal competitive industry, like any other, he said.
“If you do that you can get excellent time and cost outcomes.”
Heard said that problems come in when the nuclear sector becomes over-regulated
Room for renewables and nuclear in energy mix – researcher, 12/03/2017 Johannesburg – Renewable energy falls short of being a base load power source in South Africa, suggests a researcher.
Ben Heard, director of Bright New World organisation and PhD Candidate at the University of Adelaide, has conducted research to dispute the claims by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) that renewables have the capacity for a 70% share of South Africa’s energy sector.
The research, conducted by CSIR analysts Jarrad Wright, Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz, Joanne Calitz and Crescent Mushwana, showed that renewables would be the least cost option for South Africa. Continue reading
1 This month.
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 