No doubt there will be a frog species threatened so it will probably be shelved.
A qldFrog ? Or should it be on the ignore list ?
This one is already celebrating its new home
The future of energy generation and storage
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This one is already celebrating its new home
AGL has said it will require $20B in order to move away from coal fired-power stations which they intend to close in 2035. Now, if AGL doesn't have that amount of dosh in the kitty, I wonder who they will ask to cough up? Here is a radical thought. Cease paying dividends to shareholders to offset that cost even if partially.
And does the management now reckon its $4.8B expenditure on renewables over the last 20 years was a little on the low side given in that time the CSIRO was hinting renewables could fully replace coal-fired base load and more if sufficient investment was made. I leave it to the imagination of readers which organisations poured scorn on the CSIRO's suggestions.
And does the management now reckon its $4.8B expenditure on renewables over the last 20 years was a little on the low side given in that time the CSIRO was hinting renewables could fully replace coal-fired base load and more if sufficient investment was made. I leave it to the imagination of readers which organisations poured scorn on the CSIRO's suggestions.
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Energy security is a big concern. If companies want to close coal stations, fine , but they should be required to actually invest in replacing the output of those stations, and if they can't then return the coal stations to government control in operating condition.
I like Queensland's policy of government ownership of new generation and distribution assets. A lot of the problems in the power industry have been due to privatisation in my view.
I get annoyed when companies imply others should pick up the tab for what they fail to do. Usually the excuse is "Oh but our shareholders....". That is part of the risk shareholders need to accept if they want the company to survive but the back pocket speaks loudly.
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The big problem is, the Government is the one legislating carbon reductions, especially in the coal generation sector.
They sold the coal generation to the companies, now they are demanding that the same companies close them, but they also have to keep the lights on.
Lot of double talk going on IMO.
Somewhere along the line the Government will have to stump up some money, they appear at the moment to have one each way, as @SirRumpole said the Governments really needs to take back the electricity system.
It really isn't a lot different to the NBN, the Government wanted fibre optics rolled out from the exchanges to the residential areas, the telco's would have done it anyway, but at a lot slower pace.
So the Government took over the backbone, which is now the NBN, paid out Telstra and got on with it.
The only way that renewables can replace at call generation, is by a whole lot of money spent on transmission upgrades, which actually don't generate any electricity, just carry it.
Also a massive amount of renewables have to be installed, much more than what is required to run the grid, as it has to charge storage for the times they aren't generating. So a lot of excess capacity has to be installed, that wont generate a lot of consistent income, so the private sector wont be keen on that ROE.
Big issues, that the Government has made bigger by saying we want x reduction by this date, you can't legislate someone to run at a loss that is basically demanding they go broke.
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Trouble for the AGL board is that they've been heavily criticised for having to write off much of that investment.
Written off not because it's flawed as such but simply because it was done too soon. They've spent $100 where they could've waited and done it for $50 today.
Therein lies the problem.
Multiple companies competing against each other in the generation sector with each needing to make a profit tend to not think too far ahead. They can't - telling investors in 2022 that they might see a breakeven in the 2050's will have the CEO marched out the door rather quickly.
In contrast if we look at the Borumba hydro plan in Queensland for example, well most of the work on it was done back in the 1980's. All that's really had to be done now is to take the old plans and update them - and by that I mean draw them on a computer and make the presentation look modern, the engineering hasn't changed.
Same in Tasmania. There are plans dating back as far as 1930 that have never been needed but they're still there, it wouldn't be at all hard to dust them off and go and build. They were updated to metric measurements in the 1980's so all that would really be needed if they were be built would be to check that nobody's changed the meaning of any words, whack the plans onto a modern computerised system just for the sake of it, then go and do it.
AGL itself did used to plan much further ahead back in their days as Sydney's monopoly gas supplier. 15 years was the lowest they'd go, they got in a bit of an argument with the feds over that one once, and generally they preferred 30 years ahead as the planning horizon. All went out the window once the competitive market came in - these days even six months is too far ahead for most in the industry, hence the constant lurching from crisis to crisis.
Regardless of government ownership versus private, it's a lot easier to plan ahead when you don't have to worry about that. Hence what's going on in Qld - all rather easy when it's backed by government and a state that's big enough to stand up to the feds at that (because on more than one occasion, standing up to the feds is indeed what the states need to do).
As for Loy Yang, it's really a non-announcement. No chance technically they were ever going to run it through to 2048 - the only reason that date was ever set in my view was to be able to reduce it later for political reasons.
2035 puts the age of the generating units at 47, 49, 50 and 51 years. To put that into perspective, the history of all other units in Latrobe Valley coal stations. Age at final closure:
Yallourn A units 1 - 4 = 44 years
Yallourn A units 5 & 6 = 40 years
Yallourn B unit 1 = 52 years
Yallourn B unit 2 = 49 years
Yallourn B units 3 & 4 = 46 years
Yallourn C = 30 years*
Yallourn D = 28 years*
Yallourn E = 27 years*
Morwell unit 1 = 56 years
Morwell units 2, 3, 4 = 55 years
Morwell unit 5 = 52 years
Hazelwood units 1 = 8 = 46 - 53 years
Yallourn W unit 1 = 55 years assuming closure in 2028 as planned
Yallourn W unit 2 = 53 years "
Yallourn W units 3 & 4 = 47 years "
So Loy Yang A units at 47 - 51 years is exactly what one would expect. It never was going through to 2048.
*Closed for reasons that generally aren't spoken of but which didn't relate to being worn out. "The price of power" was a lot more than just $ and the environment..... a lot of people would've lived a lot longer if they'd never set foot in that place.
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The energy market has been turned on its head so maybe Norway now leads the way on power generation?
www.euronews.com
Before the war in Ukraine, Norway covered about 20 per cent of the EU’s gas demand and will this year supply about 25 per cent of it, according to the research company Rystad Energy.
How Norway has become Europe's energy lifeline
Norway has proven to be a lifeline to the EU. We asked Norway’s State Secretary for Energy and Petroleum if the country could cut gas prices.
www.euronews.com
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Nothing new in this article, but more evidence that the media is cottoning on to the challenges of upgrading the electricity grid.
www.abc.net.au
After a week of power industry surprises, Australia arrives at a 'tipping point'
Everywhere you looked over the past few days it seemed the super-charged transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy was on display. So what's next?
www.abc.net.au
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Great news.Nothing new in this article, but more evidence that the media is cottoning on to the challenges of upgrading the electricity grid.
After a week of power industry surprises, Australia arrives at a 'tipping point'
Everywhere you looked over the past few days it seemed the super-charged transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy was on display. So what's next?
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How long have I been saying, that the biggest problem will be keeping the coal generators producing, rather than making them shut down? Like I said, they would prefer to shut down.
The Government has thrown out the baby with the bath water IMO, now it will get really interesting, we will see how committed the general public is to the media, teal and green dream.
Why would the coal generators spend money keeping them going and why would coal miners spend money looking for more coal, to supply coal power stations that are closing.
Time and pain, will tell, it's a great test for Chris.
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/r...s-big-coal-exodus-experts-and-locals-respond/
AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST POLLUTER, AGL, has today announced the early closure of the nation’s most emissions intensive power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, with the company planning to exit out of coal completely by 2035.
reneweconomy.com.au
A Western Australia government-owned coal fired power station that is slated to be retired in 2027 has shut down for a three-month period, due to a coal shortage.
WA Today reports that the Collie power station – which is managed by government-owned utility Synergy and supplies roughly 7% of the electricity on the state’s main grid – will be shut until January due to an inability to source fuel.
The Government has thrown out the baby with the bath water IMO, now it will get really interesting, we will see how committed the general public is to the media, teal and green dream.
Why would the coal generators spend money keeping them going and why would coal miners spend money looking for more coal, to supply coal power stations that are closing.
Time and pain, will tell, it's a great test for Chris.
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/r...s-big-coal-exodus-experts-and-locals-respond/
AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST POLLUTER, AGL, has today announced the early closure of the nation’s most emissions intensive power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, with the company planning to exit out of coal completely by 2035.
Coal shortages and abundant solar lead to shut down of Collie power station
UPDATED: A WA government-owned coal plant slated to be retired in 2027 has shut down temporarily in a bid to address coal shortages in the state.
reneweconomy.com.au
WA Today reports that the Collie power station – which is managed by government-owned utility Synergy and supplies roughly 7% of the electricity on the state’s main grid – will be shut until January due to an inability to source fuel.
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Well it looks like the proverbial is hitting the fan for the Collie coal miners.
www.afr.com
From the article:
The West Australian government is facing a coal supply crisis and could follow South32’s lead and turn to Indonesia for imports of the fossil fuel.
A coal shortage in WA has forced the shutdown of a major power station supplying Perth and major towns from Geraldton to Albany, and increased the risk of outages at times of peak demand.
The WA government has flagged importing coal to meet what could become a prolonged shortfall in local supply, the issue behind state-owned Synergy shutting down the Collie Power Station.
WA energy minister Bill Johnston said Synergy could need to import coal over the next seven years.
Mr Johnston said the state’s coal industry is in a period of transition with Synergy planning to shut the Collie plant in 2027 and the state’s only other coal-fired power station, Muja, in 2029.
“Commercial disputes are a matter for the parties. However, the government wants to see solutions that ensure coal production continues over the coming years,” he said.
“Synergy continually assesses generation and fuel requirements and will take all necessary steps to ensure reliable power supply for WA’s main electricity network.”
AEMO advised the WA government at the end of August that it faced a shortage in reserve generating capacity needed to cope with peaks in demand and raised concerns about coal supply shortages.
Mr Johnston said this advice came just weeks after AEMO advice that WA didn’t face challenges over the summer.
The Australian Financial Review revealed on September 14 that South32 would start importing coal to prop up local supply to its Worsley alumina refinery.
The decision to import coal came after a syndicate of lenders owed about $1 billion pushed Griffin Coal, the only surviving coal mine in WA beside Premier, into receivership.
WA flags years of coal imports as power station shuts down
WA’s Labor government says state-owned power supplier Synergy might need to import coal over the next seven years.
The West Australian government is facing a coal supply crisis and could follow South32’s lead and turn to Indonesia for imports of the fossil fuel.
A coal shortage in WA has forced the shutdown of a major power station supplying Perth and major towns from Geraldton to Albany, and increased the risk of outages at times of peak demand.
The WA government has flagged importing coal to meet what could become a prolonged shortfall in local supply, the issue behind state-owned Synergy shutting down the Collie Power Station.
WA energy minister Bill Johnston said Synergy could need to import coal over the next seven years.
Mr Johnston said the state’s coal industry is in a period of transition with Synergy planning to shut the Collie plant in 2027 and the state’s only other coal-fired power station, Muja, in 2029.
“Commercial disputes are a matter for the parties. However, the government wants to see solutions that ensure coal production continues over the coming years,” he said.
“Synergy continually assesses generation and fuel requirements and will take all necessary steps to ensure reliable power supply for WA’s main electricity network.”
AEMO advised the WA government at the end of August that it faced a shortage in reserve generating capacity needed to cope with peaks in demand and raised concerns about coal supply shortages.
Mr Johnston said this advice came just weeks after AEMO advice that WA didn’t face challenges over the summer.
The Australian Financial Review revealed on September 14 that South32 would start importing coal to prop up local supply to its Worsley alumina refinery.
The decision to import coal came after a syndicate of lenders owed about $1 billion pushed Griffin Coal, the only surviving coal mine in WA beside Premier, into receivership.
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A major incident occurred in Tasmania on Friday morning.
Cause is one that to the best of my knowledge has no precedent in Australia. A landslide has simultaneously taken out the towers for two major transmission lines.
A key transmission route in the state involves 2 x 220kV and 1 x 110kV lines between Palmerston (Poatina power station, the second largest hydro station in Tas) in the north and the Waddamana site further south. Waddamana being an historic generation site and ongoing transmission hub from which many transmission lines head south and ultimately to Hobart.
The landslide has taken out both 220kV lines which link those points, leaving only the single 110kV line of much lower capacity.
The immediate impact was disconnection of industrial load representing about about 40% all electrical load in the state at the time. This was restored over the following 90 minutes by reconfiguring generation operations to workaround the transmission failure (that is, the failure hasn't been fixed as such, just worked around as a temporary measure).
Whilst the lights are back on, the lines do need to be fixed. There's a lack of resilience in their absence should anything else go amiss. Plus it'll be rather difficult to manage the hydro storages over time without the ability to shift energy from one end of the state to the other - OK for a while but the longer it persists, the greater the risk of a serious imbalance developing. So no panic but a fix is definitely required. At a guess though it will probably take a while given the nature of the problem.
Now of all risks to energy supply ever discussed, in Tasmania or nationally, I'm pretty sure "landslide demolishes transmission lines" wasn't among the things anyone thought likely to happen.
Cause is one that to the best of my knowledge has no precedent in Australia. A landslide has simultaneously taken out the towers for two major transmission lines.
A key transmission route in the state involves 2 x 220kV and 1 x 110kV lines between Palmerston (Poatina power station, the second largest hydro station in Tas) in the north and the Waddamana site further south. Waddamana being an historic generation site and ongoing transmission hub from which many transmission lines head south and ultimately to Hobart.
The landslide has taken out both 220kV lines which link those points, leaving only the single 110kV line of much lower capacity.
The immediate impact was disconnection of industrial load representing about about 40% all electrical load in the state at the time. This was restored over the following 90 minutes by reconfiguring generation operations to workaround the transmission failure (that is, the failure hasn't been fixed as such, just worked around as a temporary measure).
Whilst the lights are back on, the lines do need to be fixed. There's a lack of resilience in their absence should anything else go amiss. Plus it'll be rather difficult to manage the hydro storages over time without the ability to shift energy from one end of the state to the other - OK for a while but the longer it persists, the greater the risk of a serious imbalance developing. So no panic but a fix is definitely required. At a guess though it will probably take a while given the nature of the problem.
Now of all risks to energy supply ever discussed, in Tasmania or nationally, I'm pretty sure "landslide demolishes transmission lines" wasn't among the things anyone thought likely to happen.
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Landslide damage to transmission tower near Poatina, Tas:
Also Poatina Road is blocked by landslide immediately south of Poatina Power Station. The PS is underground so not much visible apart from the switchyard at the top of the photo but the road's blocked definitely. Link to media photo here: https://www.themercury.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/POAT.jpg?w=600
Poatina Rd being open to and used by the public, it's not a private road although it was built as part of the power scheme.
Also Poatina Road is blocked by landslide immediately south of Poatina Power Station. The PS is underground so not much visible apart from the switchyard at the top of the photo but the road's blocked definitely. Link to media photo here: https://www.themercury.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/POAT.jpg?w=600
Poatina Rd being open to and used by the public, it's not a private road although it was built as part of the power scheme.
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Interesting that the lines themselves don't appear to be broken.
Did the transmission system somehow sense a problem and shut down?
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A full analysis will have to be done to see if everything responded as it should but most likely there's been a short circuit.
That is, contact between the lines simply due to physical movement. Bearing in mind that the tower isn't simply bent but has been violently shoved sideways and twisted. Amidst that happening, most likely 2 or more lines either made physical contact or at least came close enough to arc.
Full analysis will have to be done but at this stage that would be my assumption. Bearing mind that at 220kV, that is 220,000 Volts, you don't need direct contact to bring about a short, just getting too close will do it.
This other photo doesn't show the transmission line but does put the scale of the landslip problem into some perspective. Human standing there for scale:
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Hairy stuff indeed. And we are now heading into another week of heavy rains and thunderstorms on an already saturated environment.
I wonder if anyone has checked around other pylons and their surrounds to see if this could happen again ?
I wonder if anyone has checked around other pylons and their surrounds to see if this could happen again ?
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Given how (ineffectively) the free market has tackled renewable energy transition it is no surprise that governments have decided to step in and make things happen.
The SEC will be revived in Victoria under an Andrews government and other states seem likely to follow suit.
Posted 7h ago7 hours ago, updated 40m ago40 minutes ago
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is touting "clean, government-owned renewable energy".(AAP: Diego Fedele)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
A leading Australian energy expert says the country’s biggest electricity market is on life support as state and federal governments increasingly take control of the transition to renewable power.
www.abc.net.au
The SEC will be revived in Victoria under an Andrews government and other states seem likely to follow suit.
Australia's biggest electricity system 'on life support' as states take control of the energy transition
By energy reporter Daniel MercerPosted 7h ago7 hours ago, updated 40m ago40 minutes ago
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is touting "clean, government-owned renewable energy".(AAP: Diego Fedele)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
A leading Australian energy expert says the country’s biggest electricity market is on life support as state and federal governments increasingly take control of the transition to renewable power.
Key points:
- The Victorian Government says it will renationalise part of the state's electricity system
- The decision follows similar moves by other governments at state and federal levels
- The Grattan Institute's Tony Wood says governments have all but given up on the national electricity market
Australia's biggest electricity market on life support as states take control
Top energy expert says the country's biggest electricity market is dying as state and federal governments take control of renewable energy switch.
www.abc.net.au
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About time. I doubt if the Parrot I n NSW will follow suit though unfortunatelyGiven how (ineffectively) the free market has tackled renewable energy transition it is no surprise that governments have decided to step in and make things happen.
The SEC will be revived in Victoria under an Andrews government and other states seem likely to follow suit.
Australia's biggest electricity system 'on life support' as states take control of the energy transition
By energy reporter Daniel Mercer
Posted 7h ago7 hours ago, updated 40m ago40 minutes ago
View attachment 148278
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is touting "clean, government-owned renewable energy".(AAP: Diego Fedele)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
A leading Australian energy expert says the country’s biggest electricity market is on life support as state and federal governments increasingly take control of the transition to renewable power.
Key points:
- The Victorian Government says it will renationalise part of the state's electricity system
- The decision follows similar moves by other governments at state and federal levels
- The Grattan Institute's Tony Wood says governments have all but given up on the national electricity market
Australia's biggest electricity market on life support as states take control
Top energy expert says the country's biggest electricity market is dying as state and federal governments take control of renewable energy switch.
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Interesting imho
www.abc.net.au
Gas field supplying NT's power plants runs into serious production problems
Production from the offshore field which supplies gas for the Top End's electricity generation has decreased by nearly 50 per cent this year.
www.abc.net.au
