Renewable energy tsar Trevor St Baker throws weight behind nuclear

Renewable energy rich-lister Trevor St Baker has backed the development of nuclear energy in Australia, saying it was ‘absurd’ it remained banned in face of a broken power sector.

Peter Dutton is taking his nuclear power policy to the election

Renewable energy rich-lister Trevor St Baker has backed the development of nuclear energy in Australia, saying it was “absurd” it remained banned in the face of a broken power sector.

Mr St Baker, whose StB Capital Partners invests in everything from electric vehicle recharging stations to battery systems, said the country’s ageing coal-fired power stations would be needed longer unless more dispatchable generation, including nuclear, could be developed.

“We are not nuclear advocates, but it is absurd it is outlawed in Australia,” Mr St Baker said. “Nuclear should be part of the mix.

“It’s not going to be here tomorrow, but it will be here well before 2040. Ageing coal-fired power stations can’t be retired until there is an alternative.”

Nuclear power is banned in Australia, with both the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 prohibiting its development.

Mr St Baker also backed plans for a government-owned national electricity commission that would play a key role in the development of nuclear power in the country.

“The best support to efficiently grow renewables is with a national government-owned electricity commission that will help complement the new nuclear share of the generation mix,” he said.

He said similar electricity commissions in the past had allowed Australia to produce some of the cheapest power in the world. “The current system is broken,” Mr St Baker said, adding there was a need for more bipartisanship on energy policy.

Energy rich-lister Trevor St Baker recharges his electric vehicle in Brisbane.

Mr St Baker said nuclear would be able to better complement “behind the meter” renewable generation that did not need long transmission lines.

He said Energy DeCarbon, one of the companies in his portfolio, is developing rooftop solar on commercial premises that did not need government handouts for projects in renewable power zones that compete with farmland and forests.

Mr St Baker joins the Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy in throwing his weight behind the move to establish nuclear power in Australia.

Beach Energy chief executive Brett Woods last week said the strong upward trajectory of energy prices and the gap in any current coherent energy policy to alleviate supply shortfalls and energy costs were hurting families and Australia’s economic competitiveness.

“I strongly support a sound economic and science-based approach to the energy transition, which naturally needs to include nuclear energy,” said Mr Woods, who heads Australia’s second-largest oil producer with a significant natural gas portfolio.

Peter Dutton is pitching his nuclear power policy to average Australians, declaring the Coalition has a plan that is “going to keep the lights on”.

However, gas would play a reduced role in the overall energy mix under the Coalition plan because nuclear would act as the main backup option.

Gas giants Woodside and Santos said gas-fired generation would still be needed for Australia’s energy security even with a wholesale move to nuclear. Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said in February that she believed Australia was unlikely to have sufficient time to adopt nuclear.

Originally published as Renewable energy tsar Trevor St Baker throws weight behind nuclear