Victoria warned of power shortfall risk after Hazelwood shuts down

Doubts have been cast over
 Victoria's level of energy security. 

Victoria's energy security has been thrown into question, with the state facing an unprecedented 72 days of possible power supply shortfalls over the next two years following the shutdown of the Hazelwood plant next week.

Australia's electricity grid operator has warned that the looming shutdown of the ageing plant, which supplies up to a quarter of the state's power, could lead to breaches of the minimum energy reliability benchmark next summer.

Read Josh Gordon’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - "Victoria warned of power shortfall risk after Hazelwood shuts down.”

(Of course the shift from early energy sources - mostly animal, human, water and wind - to those afforded us by fossil fuels was not without it problems, or complexities, so why should the shift from fossil fuel powered energy to renewable energy be any different? - Robert McLean)

Why the Coalition’s “clean” coal plans are just a smoke dream

Oliver Yates.

The Coalition government appears determined to try to force the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in new so-called “clean coal” plants, with both the energy minister Josh Frydenberg and finance minister Mathias Cormann saying they were prepared to re-write the CEFC investment mandate.

“That is certainly one of the options that we are looking at because we have recognised that we have an obligation after what we have seen in South Australia to ensure that this does not happen across the country,” Frydenberg said on Sunday in now widely reported comments.

But simply re-writing the investment mandate may not be enough, given that it is clear that coal is a much costlier and dirtier alternative to new wind and solar farms. The government would likely have to commit billions of dollars in indemnities and guarantees to get any such coal investment over the line.

This was the point made by outgoing CEFC chief executive Oliver Yates in his appearance before the Senate committee into Australia’s energy security in Canberra just over a week ago.

Read Giles Parkinson’s story on RenewEconomy - “Why the Coalition’s “clean” coal plans are just a smoke dream.”

Australian wind farms to compete with gas to provide grid stability

One of the country’s biggest and most recent wind farms will conduct a major trail in South Australia in June to try to dispel one of the biggest myths about wind energy – that wind farms are unable to add to energy security.

Wind caused the trouble in South Australia,
but could actually be the answer.

The trial – involving the newly constructed 100MW Hornsdale 2 wind farm (which will only be beginning production this week) is being funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and will also involve the Australian Energy Market Operator.

The intention is to show that wind farms can provide what is known as FCAS – frequency control and ancillary services – a critical component in ensuring grid stability in the face of unexpected voltage swings and other faults. Many insist that only coal and gas generators can provide this so-called “inertia” to the grid.

AEMO believes that encouraging wind farms to provide FCAS will add more fuel choice to the narrow FCAS market, and lower prices. Currently, only a few gas generators provide FCAS in South Australia, leading to massive price spikes when the service is called upon.

Read the RenewEconomy story - “Australian wind farms to compete with gas to provide grid stability.”

Hazelwood owner 'driven out of town' by Daniel Andrews: Frydenberg

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has given
Australians assurances about the security of
the country's energy network.

Hazelwood owner Engie was "driven out of town" by the Andrews government, Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has claimed.

In a sign that a sensible national debate on energy security is unlikely any time soon, a war of words has erupted between the state and federal governments in the wake of the historic decision by Engie to close Hazelwood by the end of March.

On Thursday, Mr Frydenberg offered reassurance that the energy network could cope with the closure of the plant, which generates up to one-quarter of the Victoria's power when fully operational. He also said the federal government broadly agreed with a state assessment that power prices will rise by 4 to 8 per cent as a result of the closure.

But on Friday Mr Frydenberg went on the offensive, accusing the Andrews government of forcing the shutdown by tripling the brown coal royalty rate in the last budget and imposing an "unrealistic" 40 per cent renewable energy target.

Read Josh Gordon’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Hazelwood owner 'driven out of town' by Daniel Andrews: Frydenberg.”

Ministers agree to energy security review after 'wake-up call' in South Australia



Chief scientist Alan Finkel will lead
energy security review.

Energy ministers met in Melbourne on Friday, where they agreed to an independent review of the nation's energy security, to be led by chief scientist Alan Finkel.  Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the meeting had been a "productive and constructive airing of views", and the review would produce a blueprint for energy security across the national electricity market.

The recent power blackout in South Australia was a "wake-up call", he said.

The one-in-50-year storm had caused the blackout in South Australia, he said, but energy security also needed to be protected amid higher uptake of "intermittent" forms of power, including wind and solar

Read the story by Benjamin Preiss in today’s Melbourne Age - “Ministers agree to energy security review after 'wake-up call' in South Australia.”