&quot;Blackout&quot; Bowen a monumental failure

Originally posted by contrabunta: ↑

LINK

Coal and gas cut out of capacity mechanism
Mark Ludlow
Queensland bureau chief
Dec 8, 2022 – 5.46pm

Federal and state energy ministers have specifically ruled out coal and gas from being a part of the capacity mechanism which will be introduced next year to ensure there is enough supply in the grid.

At an energy ministers meeting in Brisbane on Thursday, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen hailed the agreement as a breakthrough after the energy ministers controversially took the delivery of the capacity mechanism off the Energy Security Board in August.

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni – whose state is one of the biggest coal producers in Australia – declared “coal keeper is dead”, a reference to the former Morrison government’s proposal to pay coal-fired power stations to stay in the grid for longer.

“After a decade of LNP denial and delay, today I’m very pleased to announce that coal keeper is dead. [Former energy minister] Angus Taylor and [former prime minister] Scott Morrison’s coal keeper is dead,” he said.

“What we decided to do is accelerate sensible market reforms and invest in new energy insurance on the grid, it is not funding for new renewable energy. This is about prices because only when the market is dominated by clean, renewable energy will we see wholesale energy prices come down permanently.”

Mr Bowen said the Commonwealth will run auctions for dispatchable generation from next year to ensure there was enough renewable energy in each state or territory.

The bids will be underwritten and guaranteed by the federal government.

“That is the risk that the Commonwealth is undertaking on behalf of the country to ensure that we provide that stability and certainty for renewable energy,” Mr Bowen said after the meeting.

“This is important because this will unleash at least $10 billion into investment in renewable energy across Australia, at least six gigawatts of generation.”

‘Huge challenges’

As foreshadowed in The Australian Financial Review, Victoria cemented the right to slam the door on coal and gas as a source of secure energy supply when wind and solar are offline under the deal hashed out by federal, state and territory energy ministers.

Mr Bowen said coal and gas had been specifically excluded from the scheme as Australia moves to have 83 per cent renewable generation by 2030.

NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean acknowledged there were “huge challenges” in the energy transition - as coal-fired power is excluded from the grid - but the capacity mechanism would help ensure the “lights stay on during the transition”.

“We are very pleased that the Commonwealth government has agreed to ensure that the New South Wales capacity mechanism that we have in place will be supported by the Commonwealth,” he said.

Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, who had been instrumental in excluding fossil fuels from the new scheme, said the capacity mechanism would ensure “no more coal generation” and help the state reach 100 per cent renewable energy.

“Victoria has always had a strong view when it comes to the creation of a capacity mechanism. That is it was to have no fossil fuels incentivised for a future that has to be carbon emissions-free,” she said.

“Today, I am really pleased we have all agreed on a capacity mechanism that will do just that.”

But energy experts, such as Grattan Institute’s energy program director Tony Wood have warned of the risks of relying on solar, wind and storage to provide dispatchable generation to replace synchronous generation like coal and gas.

“We are not in a position to rely on wind and solar yet and battery storage is questionable to start with,” Mr Wood told ABC TV.

“Around the world, most capacity mechanisms like this tend to have things like as a backup only, things like gas or diesel generation which is just as necessary as backup. We excluded those. So how will it actually deliver reliable dispatcher will capacity as we ramp up supply of renewables. I think it is a big challenge.”

The in-principle model on the design of a so-called capacity mechanism is understood to mean that other states can establish their own incentives to ensure energy producers provide reliable power, including to fossil fuel generators.

However, the deal is set to deliver a major victory to renewables investors because it removes another support for fossil fuel-fired power even as anxiety grows about Australia’s decarbonisation trajectory.

The proposed capacity mechanism will pay providers to have their capacity available during certain periods to ensure there are no power shortfalls in the grid.I really admire Bowen's whole 'suck it and see' approach. What could possibly go wrong?

Expand

The Western World has gone absolutely mad under fools such as Albo/ Bowen and Biden/Harris.

Australia is doomed under blackout Bowen's hairbrained scheme.

Prepare for a world of pain as intermittent "renewables" are thrust upon us by a woke government on trainer wheels backed up by Labor States.

This won't end well and the Europeans will sit back in amazement and wonder, after their experiences, at just how stupid our government could be!

Australia, gifted with boundless energy sources, destroying our economy and energy reliability by rushing headlong into uncharted and unnecessary green territory without full due diligence. I guess that what we have come to expect from Labor, never more so however under Albo and the lunatic, blackout Bowen!