Day 253: 'Lagging behind other states'
An introductory weekday newsletter from Schwartz Media. Counting the days since Australia had an energy policy.
Good morning and welcome to day 253.
Today in summary: Labor announces A$75 million for lithium mining; power users dispute the transmission costs they’re being charged; and Ross Garnaut outlines a plan for Australia to transition to 100% renewables by the 2030s.
— Sophie
Today’s policy spin level: 💨💨💨
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Labor says it will, if elected, revive the Exploring for the Future funding and spend A$75 million to develop lithium mining, as part of its Future Mines and Jobs Plan. In a press release from Bill Shorten, Jason Clare and Madeleine King, Labor also says it would establish the Australian Future Mines Centre to lead research, give A$2 million for mining engineer scholarships, and develop a resources white paper and industry road map.
AAP via The Canberra Times or The Australian
In a separate media release, shadow climate change and energy minister Mark Butler said Labor will designate the south-west of Western Australia a ‘renewable energy zone’, meaning it can potentially access funding through the party’s planned A$5 billion Energy Security and Modernisation Fund. Currently 7.5% of the area’s power comes from renewables, and WA is “lagging behind other states, who are reaping the benefits of large scale renewable energy”, Butler said.
Energy transmission prices in South Australia and Tasmania are the focus for the ABC today. In separate stories, the ABC reports that businesses in South Australia’s Riverland pay “hundreds of thousands of dollars extra” on power because the area hosts lines which export power to Victoria and NSW, and the businesses pay high marginal loss factors for the power lost along those lines.
It also reports that in Tasmania, farmers want the state electricity transmitter to reduce transmission costs for power they generate on their own land. A group of farmers have formed the Agri-Energy Alliance and have begun lobbying for a change to how TasNetworks recognises multiple meters on one property, it reports.
Economist Ross Garnaut has suggested three reforms to Australia’s energy system: splitting Snowy Hydro into two companies, extend the government generation underwriting scheme, and add transmission to help with uptake of renewables, the AFR reports. Garnaut is giving a series of six seminars on Australia’s energy transition and these recommendations will come in the third seminar, delivered on April 24th. The AFR quotes him as saying:
“After a dozen years living closely with the Australian and global energy transitions, I now have no doubt that intermittent renewables could meet 100% of Australia’s electricity requirements by the 2030s, with high degrees of security and reliability, and at wholesale prices much lower than any experienced in Australia over the past decade.”
The Commentariat
Coal miners in Australia are arguing in favour of producing hydrogen using fossil fuels and carbon capture, the AFR reports. Lobby group COAL21 made a submission to the government’s National Hydrogen Strategy taskforce, wherein it said carbon capture and storage is a “mature” technology, the AFR reports. It quotes COAL21 chief executive Mark McCallum as saying:
“The Low Emissions Roadmap highlights that coal with CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation and storage] can be approximately three times cheaper than hydrogen produced by grid-connected electricity and up to 13 times cheaper than hydrogen produced by curtailed renewable energy.”
Three more things
Politician’s in Victoria’s Corangamite and Flinders are campaigning on gas and oil plans, in response to community concern and opposition, the Age reports. In Corangamite, proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight has attracted protests; in Flinders, a community group campaign against AGL’s planned floating natural gas hub has seen all candidates including the incumbent Liberal member opposing the project, it reports.
Wood Mackenzie is forecasting a boom in LNG export values in 2019-2020, with Australia’s exports forecast to reach A$49 billion in value, the SMH reports. However, Australia’s new construction will be lower than other countries, with Wood Mackenzie forecasting over US$200 billion in capex spending between 2019 and 2025. Separately, the SMH reports the NSW government has given planning approval to Australian Industrial Energy’s A$250 million Port Kembla gas terminal, meaning it’s now dependent on a final investment decision in the middle of this year.
Energy storage startup Power Diverter is launching in Australia, with its founder Daniel Lawes optimistic about the opportunities in Australia, the SMH reports. The company sells a system which can divert solar power generated in a household throughout the day to the home’s hot water system, along with a product which can power air conditioning units from home solar.