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Plans for Australia to become a renewable energy exporting superpower

Making Australia a renewable energy exporting superpower The Conversation Roger Dargaville, Senior lecturer, Monash University, Changlong Wang, Researcher, The Energy Transition Hub, University of Melbourne, Scott Hamilton, Strategic Advisory Panel Member
December 5, 2018  Politicians around Australia are proposing ambitious plans to export renewable energy from Australia, using high-voltage power lines laid under the oceans.But will this work? Our research is investigating the economic and environmental case for Australia to become an Asian energy superpower.

Our recent study, which will be presented on December 11 at the UN Climate Change Conference, models electricity generation and demand – as well as the cost of augmenting and extending transmission infrastructure. We found a transmission network connecting Australia to Indonesia could help both nations achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2050.

This is in line with a UN push for more global power connections. Exporting clean power from countries with strong infrastructure to burgeoning global populations may be key to reaching the Paris Agreement climate targets…………

Australia’s northwest desert region has some of the world’s best solar and wind resources. An underwater high-voltage Direct Current (HVDC) link connecting Indonesia’s Java-Bali power grid to the Australian National Electricity Market grid through the Northern Territory would help both nations to achieve a 100% renewable power system by 2050.

An interconnector would change the Java-Bali decarbonisation pathway dramatically. In this scenario, power generation in Java-Bali is greatly reduced due to imports; energy wasted from local wind and solar PV becomes negligible. A large amount of electricity is imported into Java-Bali from Australia, especially in the evening after the sun has set and the PV in Java-Bali stops generating.

We could also take the opportunity to connect the Northern Territory to the rest of Australia’s energy market through an above-ground transmission line. Any wind and solar energy not used by Indonesia could then be fed to the national grid.

Australia could then meet the bulk of its energy needs through wind power, since strategic placement of wind farms would minimise variability in generation. Our models also favoured coupling wide-scale solar power with pumped hydro facilities. Pumped hydro can store solar power during the day and send it into the grid during the evening, and thus stabilise the entire operation.

Despite the high cost of building this infrastructure, our research found a 100% renewable Australasia power system could reduce wholesale electricity costs by more than 16%. Our estimates may be on the conservative side, as we assumed a constant cost for the HVDC technology but it’s likely to become cheaper in the coming decades.

The model finds that the optimal configuration of the international connector from NT to Indonesia is a staggering capacity of 43.8GW with construction starting from 2030. The optimal regional transmission from NT to the east coast would have a capacity of 5.5GW.

Incentives moving forward

Australia is one of the most vulnerable developed countries in terms of risk from climate change. It is in our interest to promote a strong global response. Australia has inherent advantages in terms of our abundant renewable resources and geographical location in the Asia Pacific. (Of course, there are political complications to overcome.)

Future research will expand the geographical scope of the current study by considering more domestic and international interconnection options to assess the economic viability of a larger Australasian super grid. The recent suggestion for electrification of Papua New Guinea and meeting the energy demands of Pacific island nations are two examples. Comparison with hydrogen exports, which might involve conversion of renewable energy into hydrogen or ammonia to allow export by ship, will also be studied.

Our ultimate goal is to build a coalition of nation builders to make Australia a renewable energy exporting superpower. https://theconversation.com/making-australia-a-renewable-energy-exporting-superpower-107285


The authors are presenting their research at COP24 in partnership with GEIDCO, IEA, UN Climate Change and UN DESA. 

December 6, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | 1 Comment

South Australia now supplying electricity to Victoria, as wind power surges

Victoria now relying on SA for power as wind production rises and coal plants close, Adelaide Now Daniel Wills, State Political Editor, The Advertiser December 3, 2018 Green-powered South Australia is now sending Victoria more electricity than it takes back as wind production surges, leading energy experts to warn that more storage is the key to keeping the local grid stable.

A major report from the Australian Energy Market Operator has revealed SA was a net exporter to Victoria during the 2017-18 financial year, marking the first time that has happened in at least nine years.

However, the switch is mostly due to the closure of Victoria’s huge Hazelwood coal-fired power station, leaving it more reliant on SA for power.

AEMO warns both states are at risk of forced blackouts this summer due to possible power shortages.

SA’s emergency diesel generators could be needed to keep lights on. It says plans to link SA and NSW with a new interconnector “will be critical to help maintain reliability in an efficient manner”.

SA Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan has seized on the findings as evidence his election pledge to deliver the NSW link should be fast-tracked.

He said a new scheme to add subsidised home batteries to rooftop solar systems would also help better use SA’s renewable power. Just under half of SA’s power supply is renewable………..https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/victoria-now-relying-on-sa-for-power-as-wind-production-rises-and-coal-plants-close/news-story/bdd06cf1b584e1cf18f0d03994b679c7?fbclid=IwAR238objot3GsYDha-K_aCBO6PKs_7UIDmlbOHTwESKiLsCXF3ezqtV2OCs

December 3, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Australia, wind | Leave a comment

Renewables to be providing 80 per cent of electricity market by 2030

Renewables heading for 80 per cent of electricity market by 2030, putting pressure on future funding: report, ABC News By business reporter Stephen Letts    Key points:

  • Rooftop solar installations are up 76pc on this time last year
  • By end of the year rooftop solar capacity will exceed that of the closed Hazelwood power station
  • Renewable financing faces big challenges from the likely collapse of power prices
 Renewable generation installation has accelerated to such an extent it is on track to provide almost 80 per cent of the electricity market by 2030, according to research from consultancy Green Energy Markets………..

Renewables already covering coal closures

GEM’s quarterly Renewable Energy Index found October had been a record month for rooftop solar with Australian homes and businesses installing more than 150 megawatts of capacity for the first time.

That pace of installation is 76 per cent greater than the monthly average of last year — which had been a record year.

The report noted the amount of rooftop solar installed so far this year has already passed last year’s total and now stands at 1,243 megawatts.

“This exceeds the Liddell coal power station’s average capacity over last summer’s peak period,” GEM said.

“By the end of the year it’s quite likely the total capacity installed in 2018 will exceed the peak capacity of the recently closed Hazelwood coal power station.”

The report also found the total capacity installed by the end of 2018 was expected to save solar system owners close to $3 billion in energy costs over the next ten years………..https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-30/renewables-now-heading-for-80-per-cent-of-electricity-market/10567838

November 30, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Australia’s transition to clean energy gets a boost with Victorian Labor’s whopping victory

Labor’s smashing win in Victoria a huge tonic for Australia’s clean energy transition, REneweconomy, Giles Parkinson26 November 2018 The relief from Victoria’s stunning election result this weekend was palpable. Not just to those in the renewable energy and energy storage industries, but to anyone interested and concerned about the clean energy transition, tackling climate change, and with an eye to Australia’s economic and environmental future.

The big win by the Andrews Labor government over the Coalition opposition was branded as a triumph of rational policy making over the politics of fear: and this applies as much to climate and energy as it did to security and immigration.

Victorians were presented with a simple choice when it came to energy: wind, solar and storage and a long-term plan for their grid integration, versus an ad-hoc and reactionary appeal to last century’s fossil fuel technologies. It was renewables vs coal…….

For Australia as a whole, it means that the transition to a renewables dominated grid is now unstoppable. Tasmania is already near 100 per cent renewables, South Australia is moving towards the same share even under a Coalition government, and both Victoria and Queensland have 50 per cent renewable energy targets in place for 2030.

……..Labor’s Mark Butler observes that the Liberals have gone to an election twice in the last 12 months attacking renewable energy policies and promising to build new coal-fired power stations – and lost. (Not to mention the various by-elections in Wentworth and Wagga Wagga where the Liberals lost long-standing seats from climate and renewable-focused independents).

But don’t expect a change from the Coalition anytime soon. In the Murdoch press there was barely a mention of the climate and renewable energy policies in the coverage of the Victorian election.

…….to moderate their policies, the Coalition would have to sweep away their entire leadership team.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is forever tarnished by his coal-waving antics in federal parliament; energy minister Angus Taylor by his long and intense campaign against renewables; environment minister Melissa Price by her incompetence; deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg by his scare campaigns against “intermittents”; and the Nationals leadership because they have no clue.

Federal Labor’s policies are based around a 50 per cent renewable energy target and a 45 per cent emissions reduction target.

The former should be reached in a canter, simply because of what is locked in by the states. Like South Australia, it may find its targets overtaken by events. But it should be – it plans another $10 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corp and $5 billion for an “Energy Modernisation Fund”, along with a focus on battery storage.

It’s a more difficult challenge to meet the economy-wide emissions targets. Butler is promising to add more details in coming weeks, but it seems certain that it will take up the new industry call for carbon pricing and offer sector-specific schemes. Across industry, however, there will be a shift to clean technologies, not just in electricity, but also in heat, transport and manufacturing techniques. https://reneweconomy.com.au/labors-smashing-win-in-victoria-a-huge-tonic-for-australias-clean-energy-transition-80141/?utm_source=RE+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=05795b2fc3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_25_09_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_46a1943223-05795b2fc3-15813513

November 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Labor to adopt Malcolm Turnbull’s National Energy Guarantee (NEG), and promote renewable energy – bigtime

Bill Shorten to adopt Malcolm Turnbull’s energy policy, pledges to throw billions at renewables, ABC 21 Nov 18 By political editor Andrew Probyn and political reporter Melissa Clarke Australian households will be offered federal rebates to install solar storage batteries under a federal Labor energy policy that will also direct billions of taxpayer dollars at solar, wind and hydro projects.

Key points:

  • Labor to adopt Malcolm Turnbull’s National Energy Guarantee (NEG)
  • Rebates for households and businesses to install batteries if Labor wins election
  • Pledge of $10 billion for Clean Energy Finance Corporation

With climate and energy expected to be subjects of fierce battle ahead of the election next year, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will unveil Labor’s long-awaited policy today.

The ABC understands Mr Shorten will formally adopt former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s ill-fated National Energy Guarantee (NEG) as Labor policy.

Though Mr Shorten is likely to frame ALP adoption of the NEG as an attempt to find common ground with the Coalition on energy and climate change, it will also serve to give Labor political cover against Coalition attack.

The NEG, which was enthusiastically backed by then-energy minister and current Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, was twice supported by the Liberal party room but was dropped in August after some Coalition conservatives continued agitating against the policy.

“We remain committed to a bipartisan solution, if that is possible,” Shadow Energy Minister Mark Butler told AM.

“But we’re not going to wait for this Government.

“We’re willing to work with them, but we’re not willing to wait for them.”

Mr Shorten will recommit a Labor Government to a 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, based on 2005 levels.

He will promise massive spending on renewable energy projects, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to have its funding topped up to $10 billion………..https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-21/labor-energy-policy-ahead-of-election/10519018

November 22, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics | 1 Comment

Lack of network planning threatens Australia’s renewable electricity future, expert warns

ABC North Qld , By Tom Major 22 Nov 18 Australia’s boom in renewable energy faces an impasse unless more is done to develop infrastructure to complement wind, solar and pumped hydro storage systems, an expert has warned.

The expanding footprint of renewables represents a radical change from traditional large-scale, centralised generation, necessitating more national planning for sending power where it is needed.

Australian National University’s Energy Change Institute director Kenneth Baldwin said the remote locations of present and future renewable facilities meant Australia’s 20th century power grid required reform.

“This is a seismic shift in the way electricity is generated and distributed,” he said.

“In the future it will look much more like the internet of energy, in the same way that the internet developed into multiple nodes and many different interconnecting pathways.

“All these features of the future energy landscape are located in areas that are not necessarily where the demand is, so you have to arrange the electricity network to access the best resources and the best storage.”

Big potential unrealised

Continue reading →

November 22, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Air conditioning – if supplied by fossil fuels – increases global warming

This article highlights Sir Richard Branson (a nuclear power proponent) and correctly reminds us of the carbon footprint if air-conditioning, if fuelled by fossil power. Important to Australia, and also to India. Why didn’t Ft mention this? 

BUT – the logical alternative is renewable energy –  either by use of a total renewable energy electrical system, or just a solar air-conditioner.

FT 12th Oct 2018 Air Conditioning   A competition to find a breakthrough in air-conditioning technology has been launched with the backing of Sir Richard Branson and the Indian government, in an effort to avert the climate impact of the huge expected growth in the use of cooling systems.

The prize is intended to encourage inventors to find new ideas for indoor cooling that can be economically competitive against current technologies, while reducing energy consumption and the use of refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons that contribute to global warming.

There are about 1.2bn air-conditioning units installed worldwide today, and that number is forecast to rise to 4.5bn by 2050 as incomes rise and living standards improve in hot countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

If today’s technology is used for those units, they would by themselves emit enough greenhouse gases to raise global temperatures by 0.5C, according to Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy think-tank. The International Energy Agency has also sounded the alarm over air-conditioning, describing it as one of the most critical blind spots in international energy policy.
https://www.ft.com/content/1e056bde-e5ef-11e8-8a85-04b8afea6ea3

November 12, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, energy | Leave a comment

Victorian Labor dials up its renewable energy target to 50 per cent by 2030

 By Benjamin Preiss, Adam Carey & Noel Towell, Canberra Times, 8 November 2018 Half of Victoria’s energy could come from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro power within 12 years, if the Andrews government is re-elected.

The Age can reveal that Labor will promise to raise Victoria’s renewable energy target from 40 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030 if it wins this month’s election.

The move would enhance Labor’s green credentials and cement the state’s transition away from coal as its primary power source.

Victoria has already legislated renewable energy targets of 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025, although the Coalition has promised to scrap the targets if it wins the November 24 election. ………https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/victoria/labor-dials-up-its-renewable-energy-target-to-50-per-cent-by-2030-20181107-p50emw.html

November 8, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | energy, politics, Victoria | Leave a comment

Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian billionaire, calls on Government to reinstate carbon price

 ABC News 7.30 By Nadia Daly  7 Nov 18, Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has called for Australia to reinstate the controversial carbon price, as he pushes to influence government policy with his new green energy campaign.

Mr Cannon-Brookes said the “movement”, dubbed Fair Dinkum Power, would put forward policy suggestions around renewable energy ahead of the upcoming election, with the aim to move Australia to “200 per cent renewable energy”.

“I think it will clearly be the number one or number two issue in the election,” he told 7.30.

“Australia could be a renewable energy super power. “We could be exporting massive amounts of power, we could have huge numbers of jobs here in this space.

“We’ve just got to have vision and insight to go after that.”…….https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-07/mike-cannon-brookes-calls-government-to-reinstate-carbon-price/10474702

November 8, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

New South Wales government is preparing for a surge in renewable energy

We want to do everything we can’: NSW readies for renewables surge, Brisbane Times, By Peter Hannam, 5 November 2018 New solar and wind farms being planned for NSW have twice the capacity of the state’s coal-fired power stations, prompting the state government to set aside $55 million to help smooth their introduction.As of October 29, NSW had 20,000 megawatts of generation capacity either approved or seeking planning approval, worth more than $27 billion in investment, according to government data.

Proposed solar plants accounted for 11,200MW, dwarfing wind farms with 5100MW, and the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro of about 2000MW. Just 100MW involved coal, with the planned upgrade of AGL’s Bayswater power station.

Along with the new plants, some eight large-scale battery projects – all with solar farms – with more than 400MW-hours of capacity are also in the planning pipeline as the industry gears up for the bulge in variable energy sources.

The market, though, is going to need some near-term help to smooth the exit of most of the state’s existing power plants – particularly the 10,160MW of coal-fired power stations, said Amy Kean, director of the Energy Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies unit at the Department of Planning

To that end, the government last week revealed the first details of its $55 million Emerging Energy Program aimed at supporting a portfolio of nascent technologies that will be needed as 70 per cent of the state’s generation fleet retires by 2035.

“We’re trying to drive these technologies down the cost curve so they can then complement variable wind and solar technologies,” Ms Kean said.

The surge in renewable energy comes as the federal government has largely vacated the energy policy space after the demise of the Turnbull government’s National Energy Guarantee. The states are largely being left to press on with carbon reduction and other power sector goals.

“There is no doubt that our energy future lies in alternative technologies,” Don Harwin, the NSW Energy Minister, said.

“We want to do everything we can to unlock the expertise of the private sector to accelerate projects that deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy.”

Renewable energy could emerge as a key policy issue at next March’s state election. Adam Searle, Labor’s energy spokesman said his party planned to “have quite a lot more to say about it”, and that the ALP “will do more on new energy than Coalition parties”.

Solar catches up with windThe rapid advance and competitive nature of solar photovoltaic panels, meanwhile, has caught many by surprise. …….https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/we-want-to-do-everything-we-can-nsw-readies-for-renewables-surge-20181104-p50dw9.html

November 6, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | New South Wales, solar | 1 Comment

Nuclear and Coal Lobbyists be warned – Fair Dinkum Power is here!

 

A “bat symbol” for renewables: Cannon-Brookes launches “fair dinkum” power https://reneweconomy.com.au/a-bat-symbol-for-renewables-cannon-brookes-launches-fair-dinkum-power-56345/Sophie Vorrath, 2 November 2018 

Scott Morrison’s grasp on his favourite Alan Jones-approved energy policy slogan, “fair dinkum power,” continues to slip, as the campaign to reclaim it for renewables rather than coal gains serious momentum.

As we reported here yesterday, tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes late Wednesday launched a series of tweets challenging the Morrison government over its labelling of “baseload” and coal power as “fair dinkum” generation, and called for a “movement” to embrace wind and solar – and to dub that “fair dinkum power”.

Since then, Cannon-Brookes has registered the brand, created a new Twitter handle, crowd sourced a logo (see above), and is in the process of putting in place “some sort of licensing plan” to use @fairdinkumpower to promote local innovation in renewable energy, storage and other future-supporting technologies.

“We’re going to give away the logo, we’re going to open-source it if you like, and try to get people to put their people power behind it,” Cannon-Brookes told The Project on Network Ten on Thursday night.

“(It will be a sort of) bat symbol for renewable energy generation, if you like, for people to rally behind.

“We’ll use it to promote a lot of Aussie innovations, put it on the side of the (Tesla/Neoen big battery in South Australia). Show the world what we do.”

And while the movement is currently causing a great deal of media sensation – and spawning actual articles about whether it’s ok for a billionaire to stake any claim over the phrase “fair dinkum” – it’s worth noting that it all started from a place of sheer frustration.

“It’s pretty simple, I don’t think the government is being fair dinkum about their use of the term fair dinkum power,” Cannon-Brookes told The Project.

“I think they are not telling Australians why their power is expensive, and they’re trying to pay their agenda forward. “They’re not actually, at the moment, trying to do anything about (expensive electricity), they’re trying to protect coal’s interests.”

We get it. And we wish the campaign all the best.

And yes, it’s true The Australian, Cannon-Brookes does not own the domain name, www.fairdinkumpower.com.au. And he’s ok with that.  And we’re ok with the person who does currently own it to be linking it to RE for the time being. Do visit!

November 3, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Mike Cannon-Brookes’ campaign to reclaim ‘fair dinkum power’ swamped –

https://www.afr.com/news/mike-cannonbrookes-campaign-to-reclaim-fair-dinkum-power-swamped-20181101-h17eaq  – Mike Cannon-Brookes’ campaign to reclaim the phrase “fair dinkum power” from Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been swamped with offers of support, and the Atlassian billionaire is in the process of registering a trademark for a logo to promote renewable energy.

Mr Cannon-Brookes said he had had hundreds of tweets and emails expressing support and even offering donations since starting the campaign on Wednesday, but was funding the exercise himself.

He is exploring options for licensing the logo – a green power plug connected to a leaf with the words “FAIR DINKUM POWER” that emerged from an online competition – through the creative commons so people can use it without paying a licence fee.

He would not comment on whether there has been any contact with the Prime Minister’s office 24 hours after launching his campaign on Twitter out of frustration and anger with what he calls Mr Morrison’s dishonest appropriation of the words “fair dinkum power”.

Mr Morrison has defined the expression to mean power that can be switched on and off at will when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining but critics say this is just code for extending the life of old coal power stations or even building new ones – something no power investor has done for more than 10 years.

Like ‘Heart Foundation’ sticker

Mr Cannon-Brookes said he envisaged the logo being “like a Heart Foundation sticker” or something people can put on T-shirts, bumper bars or home batteries and solar panels to promote renewable energy and try to shift the Morrison government’s narrative from its pro-fossil fuels stance.

He said this was hypocritical given that the government’s own power company Snowy Hydro had decided to double its rollout of wind and solar energy because it is cheaper than hydro and can even undercut the operating cost of existing black coal power stations at current coal prices.

As an indication of how quickly the campaign is catching on, he said he was putting air in the tyres of his Tesla at a BP service station in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at 7.30 on Thursday morning on the school run – when a man yelled out, “That’s not fair dinkum power”, then let out a huge belly laugh and said, “Good on you.”

His end goal is to convince people that wind and solar energy are cheaper than coal or gas or hydro energy and his vision, or “life mission”, is for Australia to be “200 per cent renewable energy powered” – in other words, to export as much energy as it consumes, all from renewable sources.

“It’s a bit of a life mission for me and I’m determined to see us get there,” Mr Cannon-Brookes told The Australian Financial Review. “I do think it’s the biggest economic opportunity for our generation, and it’s amazing that we do not talk more about it.”

More sun, wind and hydro

He said Australia had more wind, sun and hydro resources than fossil fuels in the ground but “we never talk about it that way” and the Minerals Council of Australia never mentions the solar resources that the nation is blessed with.

“I don’t think the politicians are being honest when they tell you that coal is cheaper and it’s factually not true.”

He revealed the logo for the campaign on Channel Ten’s The Project on Thursday evening and said he was appearing on the show because “I have got to take every opportunity I can to convince the broader population that renewables are cheaper”.

The trademark application is already under way and the Atlassian co-founder is seeking advice on how the creative commons licensing system can be used to allow people to use the logo to promote renewable energy while restricting its use for non-approved commercial use – for example to promote so-called “clean coal”.

 

November 3, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Scott Morrison’s desperate electricity measures have no real policy future

Sensible electricity rules await the next government, Brisbane Times By Ross Gittins, 28 October 2018  You can call it populism or you can call it desperation. In the case of Scott Morrison’s recent problem-solving efforts, desperation fits better. And wouldn’t you be?

Morrison is probably right in concluding it’s too late in the piece to be worried about carefully considered, long-lasting solutions to the many problems contributing to his government’s unpopularity………

Morrison has an election to avoid losing. If Tony Abbott hadn’t greatly compounded the problem by abolishing the carbon tax, you could feel a bit sorry for Morrison. The monumental stuff-up of the move to a national electricity market, with its price blowouts at every level – generation, transmission and distribution, and retail – was decades in the making.
Only with the doubling of retail prices over the past decade has realisation dawned that the federalgovernment can’t escape ultimate political responsibility for a “national” market run by a squabbling committee of state and territory energy ministers.

But Morrison’s announcement last week of a desperate collection of good, bad and indifferent measures to get retail prices down in a hurry – or at least appear to be getting them down – seems no better than a crude attempt to bludgeon some quick retail price cuts out of the three oligopolists that have come to dominate the market.

As was powerfully demonstrated by the events leading to the overthrow of Malcolm Turnbull, no government whose members can’t agree that the threat of climate change is real is capable of achieving a policy regime that restores a stable future for the energy industry. …….https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/the-economy/sensible-electricity-rules-await-the-next-government-20181028-p50cfq.html

October 28, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics | Leave a comment

ZEN Energy and the stunning solar future for South Australia

Natural Advantage, 14 years ago, Richard Turner rigged up a solar-powered battery to bring some modern convenience to his kids’ cubby house. In 2018, after an incredible journey, the business is ready to revolutionise the economy and transform our state’s prosperity.

City Mag, Joshua Fanning, 26 Oct 18 …….It’s 2018 and renewable energy has turned the corner.

Established in 2004 in South Australia, ZEN Energy was created by Richard to get solar powered battery storage into Australian homes.

In 2010 ZEN was the state’s fastest growing company. In 2012, BRW magazine wrote up ZEN as the fourth fastest growing company in the country.

This year, British billionaire industrialist Sanjeev Gupta bought 50.1 per cent of ZEN, creating the new entity SIMEC ZEN Energy as part of his plan to own the power supply to the Whyalla Steelworks – purchased in 2017.

Gupta’s plan for ZEN is simple: power the steelworks and the associated businesses nationally with the cheapest electricity available. And in 2018 the cheapest electricity available is renewable.

But cheap doesn’t come easy. ZEN Energy is only around for Sanjeev Gupta to invest in because a lot of hard work across many generations has come before it………..

Richard isn’t mad the State Government awarded Tesla the contract for the Hornsdale battery; in many ways the Tesla brand cleared the political path for action. Richard is more frustrated by the language and mindset of the state that seems – at so many levels – to believe it’s helpless.

Tech-billionaire batteries and steel factory saviours make good headlines – but ZEN Energy tells the far more credible story of this state’s ongoing industry, creativity and resilience.

It just so happens that ZEN Energy’s story starts in a cubby house in a suburban backyard.

Richard’s children Laura and James wanted to put a little light and TV in the cubby house to make it feel more homely and play later into the evening, and so Richard scooped the kids up into the car and headed for the local hobby shop to see what they could buy. The family bought a little solar panel, a regulator, a converter and a battery. Richard recalls the guy at the shop pulling out a whiteboard marker and writing Ohm’s Law on the shop’s whiteboard.

Watts = Volts x Amps.

Rigging up the system and flicking the switch, a light went on in Richard’s mind at the same time as he lit up his kid’s cubby house. There was a business here……….

“South Australia could be the Middle East of the new world,” says Richard.

The statement catches us off guard both in its simplicity and its severity.

“We’ve got the very best renewable energy generation resource in the world,” says Richard.

“We’ve got the best sun here. We’ve got the best wind here. We’ve got these unique wind patterns that come across the roaring forties, across the Australian Bight that split up and down the Eyre Peninsula. We have nearly two gigawatts of wind power here, and there’s bugger all in the rest of Australia.”

But it’s not the raw product Richard is referring to explicitly when he says South Australia could be the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy. Richard is talking about the whole value chain of the renewable economy epitomised by Sanjeev’s GFG Alliance.

Liberty One Steel in Whyalla (as it has been renamed) and its associated heavy industry across the country will have massive demand for electricity. ZEN will be the clean, green and low-cost energy supply. Off the back of our natural and renewable resources, Richard forecasts radical change in the fortunes of this state.

“When we produce the very lowest cost of power you’re going to have all this new industry evolve. All these traditional industries will revive and gravitate to the region and will employ five times as many people as you employed in a coal-fired power station,” says Richard.

Whyalla – a town built for 100,000 people – has never had more than a quarter of that live there. “We can see, in five years, there’ll be close to 100,000 in Whyalla,” says Richard.

And with low-cost energy we can start to refine – not just mine.

Richard skips from the lithium to graphite reserves of Australia (graphite makes up lithium ion batteries 30 per cent by weight). He speaks with vigour about our clean hydrogen future – hydrogen being a huge and growing fuel source for the energy intensive economies of Korea and Japan who don’t have the renewable energy resources of South Australia.

Sanjeev Gupta will build cars in Australia – electric vehicles – Richard confirms. They’ll be built in either Victoria or South Australia. Regardless of where the cars are built, Richard says, “all the car metals and composite materials will come out of our own factories, powered by the natural energy of the sun”.

Within three-to-five years, renewables will become the dominant energy source in Australia – with coal and gas very much playing a secondary role to fill gaps in energy supply until new hydro facilities come online. Vast arrays of batteries will support critical areas prone to power fluctuations and the national energy regulator AEMO has committed to running immediate pilot programs in the worst affected areas.

Grid scale batteries will reduce severe outages by kicking into action microseconds after a power fluctuation occurs, effectively stabilising the grid. The stability these batteries will create is already causing the industry to predict electricity prices to fall by up to 30 per cent next year.

From bottom of the ladder in the old fossil-fuel energy system, South Australia is set to jump to the top in the new, renewable energy economy. And while the headlines published in our daily paper may continue to put us down, the story of this next stage in our state’s history is far more fantastic.

“South Australia is going to have the most abundant, stable electricity production centre in Australia and probably on earth,” says Richard – a fifth generation South Australian. “In years to come you won’t want to be protecting SA’s power – you’ll be exporting it both interstate and around the world.” https://citymag.indaily.com.au/habits/power/natural-advantage/?fbclid=IwAR0pgkI1MFhRalb81RPawsieK-NCgyYLxAYyqGNo0aGKsnC-SQcSMvvmBc4

October 27, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | solar, South Australia | 1 Comment

Things are crook for the Liberals, when the IPA blasts them on energy policies!

Institute of Public Affairs blasts Coalition’s ‘un-Liberal’ energy policies.  IPA’s John Roskam says government should ‘stop all subsidies to coal, wind and anything else’ Paul Karp @Paul_Karp, 27 Oct 2018 The Institute of Public Affairs has blasted the Morrison government’s “big stick” in energy policy – a threat to break up energy companies in a bid to lower prices – accusing it of breaching Liberal values and endangering investment.

The IPA executive director, John Roskam, told Guardian Australia that “heavy-handed intervention” was “positively un-Liberal” and would open the door for Labor to campaign on policies bashing big businesses – which are “simply responding to the policy settings the government itself has created” to make a profit.

Roskam also warned against any form of subsidy for electricity generation including renewables subsidies, underwriting new power generation and indemnifying coal power against a possible future carbon price.

The intervention from the influential rightwing thinktank exposes divisions in the conservative side of politics on energy policy. Some, including MP Craig Kelly and former prime minister Tony Abbott, have called for an end to renewable subsidies and withdrawal from the Paris agreement, in line with demands from the IPA.

The Morrison government has indicated it wants to preserve popular solar subsidies and to stay in Paris while it pushes ahead with competition measures to lower price in the absence of a policy to reduce emissions by 2030.

Roskam said breaking up energy companies “continues the trend of targeting particular industries” as the Coalition did with the bank tax in the 2017 budget and would “further confuse Australians” about what it stands for.

“The idea that the government would determine the shape and size of the industry in this way cuts across every principle of the Liberal party,” he said. “If you want a guarantee that nobody will ever invest in Australia again, this is how you do it.”

The Coalition has promised policies to encourage new generation – including providing a floor price, contracts for difference and government loans – and has not ruled out using those measures to support new coal-fired power stations.

The energy minister, Angus Taylor, has said the government should address investors’ concerns about “political risks”, in a sign it could also indemnify coal power against future emissions reduction policies such as a carbon price. Taylor has also said there is “no plan” to change the small-scale renewable energy scheme.

Roskam said the government should “stop all subsidies to coal, wind and anything else” because “picking winners should be an anathema to the Liberal party”.

Although the IPA wants to see more coal power, Roskam said the government should “reduce the regulatory barriers to them being funded”, not keep the barriers and overcome them with subsidies……

……. Roskam said the Liberal Party is “hopelessly conflicted on climate change” and “riven down the middle”…….

Despite the suggestion emissions and price reductions are incompatible, renewables are forecast to lower prices while coal subsidies would increase energy costs……   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/27/institute-of-public-affairs-blasts-coalitions-un-liberal-energy-policies

 

October 27, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics | Leave a comment

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