Australian Energy Market Operator predicts ‘completely new’ two-sided energy market
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Australia told to prepare for ‘completely new’ two-sided energy market https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/14/australia-told-to-prepare-for-completely-new-two-sided-energy-market
Consumers should be rewarded for buying and selling energy in real time, Australian Energy Market Commission says Katharine Murphy Political editor @murpharoo, Thu 14 Nov 2019 Australia needs to prepare the ground for a two-sided national energy market, where consumers are rewarded for buying and selling energy in real time, according to the Australian Energy Market Commission.In a new discussion paper to be released on Thursday, the AEMC says technology has previously limited consumer participation in the energy grid but the advent of smart devices and virtual power plants has created the opportunity for a fully fledged two-sided market. Comparing the opportunity in energy with disruptive platforms such as eBay or Airbnb, the AEMC chairman, John Pierce, says “digitalisation has progressed to the point where it is time to consider a completely new approach”. He says the Australian Energy Market Operator knows how much generation to expect from scheduled generators, but now attention needs to turn to virtual power plants which households are creating through solar PV and local battery storage. As well as creating incentives for households to invest in smart appliances and distributed energy infrastructure, Pierce says there is opportunity to utilise more demand management in the system, because batteries, pool pumps, air conditioners and electric vehicles can be set to consume power off peak and export power back to the grid at times when that is most remunerative. The commission has already released a draft rule for a demand-response mechanism allowing large commercial and industrial users to sell forsaken demand directly into the wholesale market for the first time. The rule would put demand response on an equal footing to generation for the first time, with energy users paid as if they are generators. Pierce says the Australian energy market is already in the process of becoming more decentralised. The grid is transitioning away from centrally controlled, big generators dominating the market. “Looking to the future – both the demand and supply sides of the energy market would be actively engaged in electricity scheduling and dispatch processes – while delivering all the services people expect like hot water, air-con and dishwashing,” the AEMC chair says. “Less generation and network capacity would be needed in a market with higher levels of consumer participation and responsiveness. Decisions to consume or not to consume would be valued digitally through any device that’s connected to the internet and remotely controlled. “Then all you will need are price signals to automatically switch your household or business power plant from grid import to export and back again delivering the services you want at least cost. It would also be cheaper for streets and suburbs to share local generation resources and storage devices.” The AEMC paper will be released to contribute to market design work being undertaken by the Energy Security Board, with reform options expected to be pursued in 2020. |
First offshore wind farm in Australia being tested
Testing begins for first offshore wind farm in Australia, The Age, By Benjamin Preiss, November 10, 2019 —Scientific testing begins this month for Australia’s first proposed offshore wind farm, near Gippsland, which could provide enough power for more than 1.2 million homes.
The testing comes as the union movement launches a campaign to lobby the state and federal governments to smooth the way for the project to proceed.
The Star of the South wind farm is expected to provide up to 2000 megawatts of power − about 18 per cent of the state’s power demand − and is set to cost between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Within weeks, the company will begin detailed studies of the wind and wave conditions at the 496-square-kilometre area off the south coast of Gippsland. It will also conduct environmental studies on marine and bird life.
If considered feasible, the wind farm is slated to provide “full power” by 2027.
Unions hope the wind farm will provide secure jobs for electricity workers in the Latrobe Valley, where the economy has relied heavily on coal-fired power generation.
The Latrobe Valley was hit hard by the closure of the Hazelwood power plant in 2017, and remaining coal-fired power plants are scheduled to begin closing in coming decades.
The broader region is bracing for more job losses with the state government phasing out native timber logging by 2030, sparking a furious response from the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union.
Previous estimates indicated the Star of the South wind farm could include 250 turbines but that is yet to be determined. Its proposed site is between 10 kilometres and 25 kilometres from Port Albert.
Last week a group of unions and Victorian Trades Hall Council launched a report calling for a “direct transition” to help redeploy workers in fossil fuel industries to jobs at Star of the South.
They want the commonwealth to establish a “transition authority” and a master plan to develop offshore renewable energy……
The Victorian government has set a renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030…..https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/testing-begins-for-first-offshore-wind-farm-in-australia-20191110-p53970.html?fbclid=IwAR2pEmquJ0zzGw5egjYDTM1H6loOXZBaaTWIPAY0brsixjmlUuwiU4r-_lg
Tasmanian renewable energy projects tipped to pour $6.5 billion in state’s economy
Premier Will Hodgman says the state will benefit from an economic injection of $6.5 billion through two key renewable energy projects.
Mr Hodgman said the business case for a second interconnector was stronger after new analysis from TasNetworks showed the Marinus Link project would be able to transport a higher amount of energy to the mainland as previously anticipated……. https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6423824/states-energy-potential-better-than-anticipated/?cs=95
Zero-carbon Energy for Asia-Pacific project – a bold plan to make Australia a Pacific energy hub
A radical shift towards renewable energy has the potential to reshape the Australian economy and create exports worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the head of a major research project to be announced on Thursday.
Malcolm Turnbull says renewables plus storage are cheaper than coal and nuclear for new power generation. Is he correct?
RMIT ABC Fact Check ABC News, 11 Sept 19, “…… Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull chipped in to the debate with a recent tweet claiming: “The bottom line is renewables + storage are cheaper than new coal let alone the loopy current fad of nuclear power which is the current weapon of mass distraction for the backbench.”
Is new generation from renewables plus storage cheaper than new coal or nuclear generation? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.
The verdictMr Turnbull’s claim is a fair call.
There is some uncertainty around cost estimates for different power generation technologies.
Under current policy settings and economic conditions, it is generally cheaper to produce electricity from wind or solar sources than it would be using a new coal or nuclear plant, with or without “storage”……
The best available data suggests that under current conditions, nuclear energy would not be a cheaper source of electricity than renewables, as Mr Turnbull points out………. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/is-renewable-power-cheaper-than-coal-nuclear-malcolm-turnbull/11495558?fbclid=IwAR0O0BVlxfj11ABHSA1bDdUwB8g3S0DUEABe_08a
‘Bold’ scheme launches to power every property on SA’s Eyre Peninsula with solar
‘Bold’ scheme launches to power every property on SA’s Eyre Peninsula with solar ABC Eyre Peninsula By Lucy Robinson and Emma Pedler 6 Sept 19, An ambitious plan to power every property in one region of South Australia with solar has been labelled an Australian first — but experts are divided over whether it will work.Key points:
- The Eyre Peninsula in SA has been plagued by blackouts and a new Community Solar Scheme is rolling out to boost energy security in the region
- The scheme includes finance solutions and free quotes to help people access the technology
- SA Power Networks said the current energy network in SA has “limited capacity to support solar” across the state
Home to around 60,000 people, Eyre Peninsula has been plagued by blackouts in recent years and left without power for several days at a time on multiple occasions.
Its towns were among those hit hardest by the statewide blackouts in September 2016, with Eyre Peninsula businesses wearing a median cost of $10,000 from the event.
The Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association (EPLGA) has released a Community Solar Scheme, put together by Regional Development Australia (RDA), which it says could boost energy security while helping residents save money on power bills…….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-06/bold-solar-scheme-launched-to-power-whole-eyre-peninsula/11459992
Renewable energy booming in Australia: nuclear power irrelevant
Nuclear power not the answer as renewables continue to boom in Australia, report finds, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-27/energy-audit-finds-nuclear-power-is-not-the-answer-for-australia/11450850Australia’s continuing renewable energy boom means the development of nuclear power is not a viable option, a new report from public policy think-tank the Australia Institute has concluded.
Key points:
- The Australia Institute’s energy emissions audit for the month July was released today
- It found SA’s renewable energy generation is setting a “real example” for other states
- It also found nuclear energy would not complement a high renewables sector
With the potential for nuclear power set to be examined by a federal parliamentary inquiry, the institute said the rapid development of wind and solar resources, particularly in South Australia, would render new “baseload” power resources like nuclear uneconomic.
The think-tank’s latest National Energy Emissions Audit found that for 44 hours during the month of July, South Australia generated enough wind and solar energy to power 100 per cent of its own demand, with some left over for export to eastern states.
The Institute’s climate and energy director, Richie Merzian, said the power grid in SA is effectively eliminating the need for so-called “baseload” supply, the type typically supplied by coal or nuclear.
What high renewables don’t need is a baseload type of energy, so a consistent supply of energy that doesn’t ramp up or ramp down to meet peak demand,” he said.
“That usually happens when you have those extremely hot days in summer that are becoming more common.
“What our audit shows is the windows where you need that peak demand are few, but that’s really where the additional support needs to come and that won’t be provided by a baseload support like nuclear.”
He said the other issue with nuclear energy was the cost and timeframe needed to build a nuclear power station.
“It takes a long time to build and it doesn’t complement high levels of renewables which is what we’re seeing in South Australia and the direction we’re going in in other states,” he said.
Earlier this month, Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor announced the potential for nuclear energy would be examined by a parliamentary inquiry, but insisted Australia’s moratorium on nuclear energy would remain in place.
The parliamentary inquiry is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.
The Australia Institute’s audit acknowledged that South Australia’s high renewable energy output had forced the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to regularly intervene in that state’s market to maintain system security of the grid.
AEMO does so by directing gas generators to run or directing windfarms to curtail their output, or both, when the level of wind energy is deemed a risk to the stable operation of the grid.
But, according to the institute, AEMO has been gradually reducing such interventions as it gains more experience dealing with the high renewable energy mix.
SA is setting a ‘real example’
Mr Merzian said the latest audit had looked at South Australia in particular and had shown it was setting a great example for other states in terms of renewable energy.
“What we found is that for nine of the last 18 months, half of all the energy supplied in South Australia has been from renewable generation, including rooftop solar,” he said.
“That means that South Australia has been able to operate for a good chunk of the last year and a half with at least 50 per cent of its energy coming from wind and solar.
“That’s impressive and that’s the highest in the country and is a real example for where most of the states are going to go.”
He said Victoria and Queensland both had ambitious renewable energy targets and while New South Wales did not have a renewable energy target at state level, it would soon be the largest generator of renewable energy.
Renewable supply meeting demand
Mr Merzian said one prime example from the audit was that for almost 50 hours, the supply of wind and solar power in South Australia was equal with the amount of energy demand.
“Over the last month there were 44 hours in total where the state was generating enough wind and solar that is equal to what it actually required as an energy demand,” he said.
“Not only is South Australia a great example for the rest of the country, it’s also a great example globally.”
He said South Australia did not have the same energy security from coal and gas as other states and had become a “champion” for renewable energy because of it.
“South Australia has really had to charge on its own to build that internal reliability from its own energy sources and that’s really helped it champion its current make up of energy,” he said.
“It also puts a lot of pressure on that transmission link between South Australia and Victoria.
“If South Australia is going to continue to evolve, it’s important that we continue to build on these transmission links and infrastructure.”
A 2006 report on nuclear power led by Ziggy Switkowski suggested Australia could have up to 25 reactors providing over a third of the country’s electricity by 2050.
Australia needs intelligent long-term energy policy – nuclear does not ‘stack up’
There are questions about how long it might take to get a nuclear power station planned, built and operational (maybe as long as 20 years), not to mention that a change of legislation is required before a nuclear plant can even begin to be built. And then there’s the question of cost. Continue reading
Noosa the first Queensland council to declare a climate emergency – Mayor explains why
Why this south-east Queensland council declared a ‘climate emergency’ https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/why-this-south-east-queensland-council-declared-a-climate-emergency-20190724-p52acd.html, By Tony Wellington, July 27, 2019
Frustrated by stagnant policy at the federal level, Australian communities are looking elsewhere for responses to climate change.
Businesses, communities and, increasingly, local governments are stepping up to the plate.
Noosa council declared a climate emergency to send a strong message, according to the mayor.
As the closest tier of government to the people, it’s our responsibility to listen to the concerns of residents, and they are demanding a healthy and resilient future for their children and grandchildren.
The concerns of our communities are not being heard by the national decision-makers. Local governments have no choice but to act as climate advocates for their communities and thus take matters into their own hands.
That’s why we in Noosa shire have set ourselves a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2026 – and our community has jumped on board.
Our modelling shows that, if action is not taken to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, a much larger proportion of our residential and commercial properties will be within the storm tide inundation zone in the year 2100.
In other words, with a projected sea-level rise of 0.8 metres and intensifying weather events, many properties could be flooded in a significant storm or else subject to coastal erosion. We need to plan for this now, not wait until it’s too late.
Noosa recently became the first Queensland council to declare a climate emergency, joining 847 other government jurisdictions across the world who have already done so. We want to send a strong message to higher levels of government that this is the most serious issue facing humankind.
Noosa council is rolling out solar panels and battery storage, adopting a wide range of energy efficiency measures and tackling methane emissions from our landfill. And we are working with our community to reduce emissions at the business and household level. Of course, there is much more to be done. But we’re not alone.
We’re just one of many councils across the country who are rising to the challenge of climate change. From the Huon Valley in Tasmania to Port Douglas in northern Queensland, councils are working together through alliances such as the Cities Power Partnership.
We need to learn from each other and share our knowledge because we’re all in this together. Every local government wants to see sustainable, healthy communities that thrive in the future. And, like it or not, the future is renewable energy. Tony Wellington is the Mayor of Noosa Shire Council
Melbourne’s tram network is set to be powered by the state’s largest solar farm
 Victorian solar farm to generate enough electricity to power Melbourne’s entire tram network
The 128-megawatt solar farm near Numurkah, north of Shepparton, took less than a year to build and will use more than 300,000 panels to power the city’s trams. Key points:
It is one of two solar farms supplying renewable energy to the network, and will generate approximately 255,000 megawatt hours of electricity into the national grid each year. Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio said the project was the largest in the state. “The Numurkah solar farm will play an important role in supporting the transformation of our energy system towards clean, renewable energy and reaching our renewable energy target,” Ms D’Ambrosio said. Farm built in record timeBased just outside of Numurkah in the tiny town of Drumanure, the farm spans 500 hectares of land once used for cattle grazing and cropping. The carbon emission reduction generated by the farm is the equivalent of taking 75,000 cars off the road or planting 390,000 trees…….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-20/numurkah-solar-farm-to-power-tram-network/11327346 |
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South Australia the leader in energy efficiency
South Australia leads push for energy efficiency, India Murphy, 
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Lithium is valuable for many clean devices, but we can’t just ignore the wastes from its mining
Enormous lithium waste dump plan shows how shamefully backward we are SMH, Emma Young, 25 June 19 Emma Young covers breaking news with a focus on science and environment, health and social justice for WAtoday. We are all – well, all of us who are privileged enough – existing on a spectrum somewhere between “concerned” and “downright panicking” about human impact on the environment.
Western Australia holds some of the world’s richest known lithium deposits and now has an emerging industry to process that lithium here, not just ship it to China as previously done.
It’s part of a plan to make us more than just the world’s quarry; a bigger player in an industry promising big money, and bring jobs and industry to the South West.
But we have run up against a reality, in the very recognisable area of the Ferguson Valley: a reality predictable, yet startling.
Lithium mining will leave its own scars on a landscape already littered with tens of thousands of abandoned mining voids, pits, equipment and piles of tailings – and create its own waste.
In WA’s South West, processing of spodumene ore from the Greenbushes lithium mine will result in 600,000 tonnes per year of waste material being dumped – or ‘stacked’, if you want the euphemism – only 3.5km outside the charming little town of Dardanup.
Let me repeat that: 600,000 tonnes per year.
The application has offended the residents who already put up with dust, rubbish and runoff from the existing and already enormous landfill site.
To them, it’s on the nose.
And it’s not just sand and dirt. It’s waste of a kind so new to Australia that they had to get samples from China to find out what to classify it as.
Cleanaway submitted to the EPA that it was inert and non-toxic waste.
Yet no sustainable market exists for its reuse.
“By storing tailings in dedicated storage cells, in the event a sustainable market for reuse was developed, the material might one day be recovered,” it submitted, optimistically, to the Environment Protection Authority considering its proposal.
Somehow, I find it hard to believe that it is any miner or processor’s priority to find or develop such a market.
Australian States taking the lead on energy policy, as renewable energy generates more Queensland jobs than coal does,
It’s ironic, perhaps, that in an election cycle where a number of regional Queenslanders voted for the promise of blue-collar jobs, backing the party that backed the Adani coal project, renewables generated more than 13,000 actual jobs in construction, with a lot of that activity in north Queensland.
Liberal states in talks to revive Turnbull’s dumped energy policy In Canberra, a month on from Scott Morrison’s election victory, there is talk of feasibility studies for a new Queensland coal plant, and a nascent nuclear debate. But if we shift our vantage point to Adelaide, Australia’s near-term energy outlook looks very different.
Dan Van Holst Pellekaan, the Liberal energy minister, is talking about South Australia hitting 100% net renewables by the 2030s. When asked to explain what that means, he tells Guardian Australia “producing more renewable energy in South Australia than we need for our own consumption and exporting the surplus”.
There is no talk of coal, apart from the inevitability of its displacement.
The South Australian renewables export plan relies on a new interconnector with New South Wales. Van Holst Pellekaan says if the proposed interconnector is approved, there are opportunities to construct large-scale solar and wind farms in the north-east of the state, on pastoral land, adjacent to the transmission equipment. “Then we start to displace coal in NSW,” he says. “It’s not just about a bit of renewable energy making a difference … that’s where you start to get a really big win on emissions reduction.”
But pushing ahead with that kind of progress is much easier if there’s a national framework driving the transition. Post-election, Van Holst Pellekaan wants Canberra back at the table being collaborative, implementing a coherent energy policy.
What the South Australian doesn’t say, but is obvious to people who know how the Coag energy council works, is the states can force this issue if they choose to.
If they can agree among themselves about what needs to happen, they can create a framework setting out the rules of the road even if the commonwealth resists.
Liberal states drive energy policy reboot Continue reading
The Northern Territory’s opportunity – clean energy found a ‘pathway to prosperity’
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Clean energy found to be a ‘pathway to prosperity’ for Northern Territory, Renewable energy is not only a money-spinner for the NT, it can also help mining industries expand, a new report says, Guardian, Adam Morton@adamlmorton 20 Jun 2019 Energy development in the Northern Territory is a typically Australian story: it is backing fossil fuels – in this case gas – when it could, as one of the sunniest places on Earth, be reaping economic and environmental benefits from renewable energy.
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Lynas’ rare earths miner: its troubles are a reminder that even renewables technologies involve radioactive trash
 Toxic waste: Lynas Corporation and the downside of renewable energy, Independent Australia, 28 April 2019 In some cases, renewable energy can have profoundly harmful environmental effects if not managed correctly, writes Noel Wauchope.AUSTRALIA’S LYNAS CORPORATION is currently under the business and political spotlight. The current controversy over Lynas rare earth elements company is a wake-up call to an area of vulnerability in renewable technologies – the radioactive pollution produced by developing the rare earth elements essential for today’s hi-tech devices. Electric cars, batteries, energy efficient lighting, smartphones, solar panels, wind turbines and so on all need some of the 17 mineral elements classed as rare earth. The mining and processing of this produces radioactive trash.
Environmentalists, in their enthusiasm for renewable energy, seem unaware of this fact, while they rightly condemn coal and nuclear power, for their toxic by-products. Australia’s Lynas Corporation has two major rare earth facilities — mining at Mount Weld, Western Australia, and processing at Kuantan, Malaysia. For years, there’s been a smouldering controversy going on in Malaysia, over the radioactive wastes produced by the refining facility at Kuantan. Now, this has come to a head. On 17th April, the Malaysian Government insisted that Lynas Corp must remove more than 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste from the country, for its licence to be renewed in September. Australian Government legislation and policy prohibits the import of radioactive waste. However, some categories of radioactive waste are exempt from this law, if they contain very low levels of radioactivity. Here’s where it all gets terribly complicated. Wesfarmers wants to take over Lynas. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is examining this, and especially Wesfarmers’ involvement with the Malaysian government. The Age on 16 April, reported that Prime Minister Mahathir, following discussions with Wesfarmers, announced that a company interested in acquiring Lynas had promised to extract the radioactive waste before exporting the ore to Malaysia. All this raises the question of exactly what would an Australian company, such as Wesfarmers, do with that radioactive waste? This is a thorny problem. And what would Lynas do about their current problem?…… It is complicated to grasp the methods used and just what is required for the proper cleanup of the Lynas rare earth elements refining. Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze maintains that the wastes left behind are only marginally radioactive. …… culture and history really have their impact, precisely in Malaysia’s experience of rare earth processing. Even if the Lynas waste really is only slightly radioactive, Malaysians remember the environmental and health disaster of Bukit Merah; where, early this century, rare earth processing left a toxic wasteland. China’s rare earth element processing disaster in Inner Mongolia is better known, an environmental catastrophe from the 1960s which lingers today. Modern processing has improved safety in waste management. In relation to nuclear power, there is an abundance of information on radioactive waste management, for China and for other countries. However, there’s little or no information that’s easily available to specifically discuss radioactive waste from rare earth processing. Australia does have another, smaller, rare earth elements mining and processing operation, Arafura Resources, in Central Australia. The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (EPA) found this acceptable….. What is clear, is that the production of the world’s hi-tech devices is not a simple matter as far as the environment goes. Climate change activists, anti-nuclear activists and environmentalists in general can keep on promoting renewable energy and electric cars. But they seem to be blind to the total picture, which includes the downside. Obviously, it is necessary to ensure safer disposal of the trash from rare earth mining and processing. A better idea is to develop the design of devices so that the minerals can be retrieved from them and recycled, thus greatly eliminating the need for mining rare earth. And this is beginning to happen. ….. Energy conservation is the biggest factor in the change that is needed. Social change, however difficult that will be, is going to be the most important answer — the transition from a consumer society to a conserver society. The Lynas radioactive trash controversy is not going to go away quickly, however much governments and corporations want to keep it under wraps. And it also could be a catalyst for discussion on that downside of renewable and hi-tech devices. This is something to think about as we throw away last year’s iPhone in favour of the latest model. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/toxic-waste-lynas-corporation-and-the-downside-of-renewable-energy,12619#disqus_thread |
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1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 