Industry experts and Hunter community members have welcomed the NSW Government‘s plans to expedite the shift to cleaner energy by investing in renewable energy solutions such as solar panels and batteries and managing coal power station closures.
According to the Climate Media Centre, analysts believe that the NSW Government must seek to prevent extending the life of Lake Macquarie’s coal-fired Eraring power station. Climate Energy Finance and Nexa Advisory, the authors of two different expert assessments this year, have demonstrated that there are viable alternatives to keeping Eraring on life support.
“The announcement by the NSW Government is a positive step in the right direction. Unlocking network capacity to accommodate utility scale renewables and rooftop solar PV will accelerate the build out and help get NSW back on track,” Nexa Advisory Founder and CEO Stephanie Bashir said.
Bashir stated that the timing of taking actions and measures is crucial to revert the build-out and ensure Eraring’s closure will be on track.
“Our Analysis clearly shows that if we take action to accelerate the current build rate of renewable generation, storage, and transmission we will get the job of the clean energy transition done on time, while consumers save money now and in the long term,” she explained.
“We are of the view that rather than the state government committing hundreds of millions in public money to prop up expensive and unreliable coal-fired power stations, a better approach would be to accelerate the rate at which we deploy new clean energy resources. This would negate or minimise the need to extend the lifespans of coal-fired power stations, and leave energy users and the nation much better off in coming years,” she added.
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie commented, “Extending Eraring would be a disaster. It will cost taxpayers enormously, continue to pollute and encourage every other ageing coal station to hold out for a handout. The government has a range of other excellent alternatives, from more roof top solar, community batteries and fast tracking the huge pipeline of renewable power ready to come into the system. Investing in renewables will power the state for a generation, while money into fossil fuels will go up in smoke.”
Beyond Zero Emissions Sam Mella said the focus on small-scale solar for households and businesses is encouraging while promoting energy efficiency. Mella noted that investing in thermal and energy efficiency can save money and provide long-term benefits for NSW residents.
“The focus on community batteries is also much needed. We have this situation where we are generating so much solar there is curtailment, so all of the solar energy is going to waste. The Australian Energy Market operator has stated if we build more big batteries, we can shore up reliability. So the best value for the people of NSW is more batteries so we can capture the solar that is currently being kept out of the market,” Mella added.
Meanwhile, Hunter Renewal volunteer Peter Coughlan has welcomed the State Government’s announcement to expedite renewable energy generation.
“Focusing and supporting household solar and battery is the most effective way to reduce the cost of electricity for homes and businesses,” Coughlan said.
“Hand in hand with that is the urgent need to progress renewable projects, including the expansion of the larger scale battery capacity of the state. Using taxpayer funds to extend the life of a coal fired power station like Eraring is completely counter to the steps we need to urgently embrace,” he added.
