Nuclear must be option in energy mix, says Vales Point operator

Nuclear power shouldn’t be ruled out as part of Australia’s energy mix, says Richard Wrightson, given it could be produced at about the same cost as wind.

Nuclear power should not be ruled out as part of Australia’s energy mix, given it could be produced at about the same cost as wind, according to the operator of one of the country’s largest power generators.

Delta Electricity chief executive Richard Wrightson said the country was not building new-generation assets quickly enough, putting already high power prices under pressure.

Mr Wrightson, whose company operates the coal-fired Vales Point Power Station in NSW, said a lot of people criticising nuclear power failed to ­realise it did not cost any more than renewable sources such as wind power.

Delta Energy’s parent company Sunset Power International reported profit after tax of $39.7m in the year to December 31, according to a report lodged with ASIC this week.

“If it stacks up financially, nuclear should be considered as part of the mix along with wind and gas,” said Mr Wrightson.

Mr Wrightson, who worked in the nuclear power industry in Britain, said nuclear was one of the safest forms of power.

But, he conceded the time taken to build scaled nuclear plants meant Australia could not afford to wait for it to fill the gap in the energy mix without looking at other options.

Australia’s coal-fired power stations are due to largely be retired by 2035 — the most optimistic date for the entry of even a small modular reactor under the nuclear policy announced by Peter Dutton.

The lack of investment in gas-fired power as a replacement for coal plants meant reliable firming options might fall away, as coal-fired station owners struggle with the costs of extending the life of ageing plants, Mr Wrightson said.

Delta Energy chief executive Richard Wrightson says nuclear should be option.

“We need to be building stuff now, not over the next 20 years, and nuclear power just won’t be built in time,” he said.

“Without new assets, we will be going backwards on energy prices. To totally get rid of coal, you need to be building gas but gas is hard to come by at the moment.”

Vales Point is scheduled to stay open until 2033 and Mr Wrightson said it would require fairly large capital expenditure to operate beyond this date.

This week, businessman Dick Smith backed the Coalition’s nuclear energy push and called on the Albanese government to scrap the “absolutely ridiculous” nuclear moratorium.

Power prices are forecast to rise across Australia’s electricity grid as big coal power stations are shut down and the rollout of renewable and storage capacity slows, UBS says, with NSW the most exposed once the Eraring plant closes.

The broker lifted its 2024 forecast for wholesale prices to $90 per megawatt hour from $80/MWh, given the materially higher levelised cost of electricity from firmed renewable energy. Delays in renewable and storage capacity development, along­side the closure of coal plants, will mean wholesale ­prices will peak in 2029 at $104/MWh, UBS added.

Originally published as Nuclear must be option in energy mix, says Vales Point operator