PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) has welcomed a decision by the Council of Australian governments’ (COAG’s) Energy Council for an independent review to develop a national electricity blueprint, following the recent state-wide blackouts in South Australia.
The independent review will draw together and build on the analysis and findings of the recent and ongoing work streams of the Energy Council.
Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, will chair the review and will be assisted by two deputies to be agreed on by the COAG Energy Council in coming weeks.
A preliminary report will be prepared for the COAG leaders’ meeting in December with a final report expected to be early in the New Year.
“Let’s hope Dr Finkel’s review will drag debate away from polarised positions to a fact-based discussion of how Australia can cut emissions from the energy sector without jeopardising reliable, affordable electricity for consumers,” said Appea CEO Dr Malcolm Roberts.
“As far as some governments are concerned, this might not be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but it could be the beginning of a long overdue realism in the debate about renewable energy.
“Integrating more and more intermittent renewable energy into the grid is a major challenge. It is a challenge Australia can meet, provided we accept that there are genuine practical problems to be solved and we must cooperate to solve them.”
Roberts said that identifying these problems was not an attack on renewable energy, as some may think, but he said that solving these problems was in everyone’s interests, especially the renewable energy industry.
“Every generation technology has its strengths and weaknesses – that is why Australia has always used a mix of technologies to meet demand.
“As a starting point, we need to see more coordinated action from governments and fewer ad hoc announcements designed to capture newspaper headlines. Integrating climate change and energy policies means striking the right balance between cutting emissions and maintaining reliable, affordable supply.
“An important first step will be for governments to recommit to a single national renewable energy target. Some state governments have announced ambitious renewable energy targets without any detailed analysis of the costs for consumers or the impact on energy security.”
Roberts said that the most efficient renewable energy target is a single national target, not a patchwork of state targets, which might change with every electoral cycle.
“We need to see careful planning so that, as renewable energy increases its share of the energy market, we retain sufficient gas-fired plant to provide the immediate back-up required when renewable output falls or demand spikes.”
Roberts pointed to a recent international study of 26 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries between 1990 and 2013, which shows that that gas is critical to system security.
That study found that for every 0.88% increase in renewable generation, an even larger increase of 1% in fast reacting gas-fired generation occurred.