<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/19/nsw-can-avoid-electricity-shortages-without-paying-hundreds-of-millions-to-keep-eraring-open-expert-says>
"New South Wales can avoid electricity shortages without paying hundreds of
millions of dollars to keep Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant open
after a spurt of renewable energy and battery approvals and weak demand growth,
a new report argues.
Analysis of the 2024-30 power sector by the Clean Energy Finance director Tim
Buckley found NSW will have enough capacity to cover the exit of the
2,880-megawatt Eraring station now set for closure by owner Origin Energy in
August 2025.
“There is no reason why the taxpayer should be on the hook for multiples of
hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Eraring open,” Buckley said, adding he
had become “materially more confident” after a burst of federal and state moves
at the end of 2023 to support more storage and large-scale renewables projects.
The report found NSW was “leading the world in the financing, approval and
construction” of new battery storage systems. It cited the 850MW/1,680MW hour
Waratah Super Battery now under construction and Origin beginning work on its
700MW/2,800MWh battery at the Eraring site.
AGL also reached a final investment nod last month on its $750m 500MW/1,000MWh
battery that it will build on the site of the Liddell power plant that shut
last April.
The state’s planning department in December also recommended approval of a
windfarm for the first time in two-and-a-half years, Engie’s 290MW Hills of
Gold project, while Squadron Energy started building its 414MW Uungula windfarm
last week.
“There remains a very strong NSW proposed pipeline of projects of some 50GW of
firmed renewables, many already in the approval process,” the report said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
