Electricity crisis: Premier Gladys Berejiklian can’t rule out summer blackouts
PREMIER Gladys Berejiklian has admitted there could be more blackout bedlam this summer as the nation faces an escalating power crisis.
NSW
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- Power profits double and bosses’ salaries skyrocket
- City haunted by blackout spectre if Liddell closes
PREMIER Gladys Berejiklian has admitted there could be more blackout bedlam this summer as the nation faces an escalating power crisis that could lead to major shutdowns to homes and business across the state.
Sydney was plunged into meltdown madness last summer as a hellish heatwave sent temperatures soaring and power was cut to 11,000 homes and businesses across the inner west.
It was only the last-ditch closure of an aluminium smelter in the Hunter that saved the entire city from being plunged into darkness and Ms Berejiklian was yesterday unable to rule out more blackouts this summer.
“I will never be complacent and we need to work hard on a daily basis to make sure we maintain our resilience,” she told a parliamentary budget estimates hearing.
The long-term future of NSW energy supplies looks even bleaker, with the looming shutdown of Australia’s third largest power station at Liddell, near Muswellbrook, in 2022 — leaving a potentially massive shortfall in energy supplies if nothing replaces its huge 2000 megawatt generating capacity.
Malcolm Turnbull is in talks to extend Liddell’s life until at least 2027 and could offer financial incentives to AGL.
The PM called Ms Berejiklian this week for urgent discussions about Liddell and it is understood he asked for her help.
Asked if the state government will pay to keep Liddell open beyond 2022, Mr Berejiklian said: “We’ve not come to any conclusions regarding that. Obviously we are interested in the federal government’s announcements.”
Ms Berejiklian lashed South Australia for going rogue and piling into renewables, despite their inability to cope with peak demands.
A third option, which many believe is the only viable alternative, is for NSW to build its own new coal-fired power station.
“I’m not going to rule it out,” the Premier said yesterday.
“My job is to make sure my citizens don’t need to worry what happens when they flick on a switch. And it’s also my job to make sure we keep energy prices as low as possible.”
Grattan Institute energy expert Tony Wood said the likeliest place for any new coal plant would be “exactly where coal power is now”.
“Transmission costs can be quite a challenge,” he said.
“If higher transmission costs can be avoided by building where an existing plant is or very close to transmission lines they use, that would make a big difference.
“You’d also want to be as close to the source of your fuel. Coal is a bit trickier than gas because you can transport gas through a pipeline but the cost of transporting coal could be higher than the cost of the coal instead.”
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Minerals Council boss Stephen Galilee said: “The premier should be commended for refusing to rule out options to ensure the supply of reliable and affordable energy for homes and businesses in NSW.
“Our research shows that the construction of a new technology low emissions power plant is viewed as sensible policy, with 64% support among NSW voters and in particular 81% among Coalition voters.
“This is not about coal versus renewables, it’s about a sensible partnership that will lock in our energy security for decades as in investment in renewables continues.”
AGL ABLE TO PICK UP A LIDDELL BARGAIN
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THE coal power station at the centre of Malcolm Turnbull’s efforts to keep the lights on was given to AGL for “free” by the former Baird state government.
Despite this, AGL is stubbornly distancing itself from plans by the Turnbull government to sell the Liddell power plant to a buyer who will keep it online until at least 2027.
If it did, AGL would stand to make a handsome profit — but if the Hunter Valley plant shuts in 2022 as planned, it would leave NSW with a worrying 46 per cent chance of a major blackout.
The revelation follows Treasurer Scott Morrison’s accusation yesterday the company was contradicting earlier statements made to the government when AGL’s chief executive Andy Vesey told him and others the company would be prepared to sell Liddell.
“It was in a room with four ministers, note takers and all of the retail energy bosses. It wasn’t said behind the outhouse,” Mr Morrison said.
AGL PROFITS DOUBLE AS BOSSES’ SALARIES SOAR
And The Daily Telegraph can reveal AGL told its investors the Liddell power station was “valued at $0, representing a ‘free’ option” when the company first acquired the plant as part of a $1.5 billion deal in 2014.
That was when AGL purchased a series of assets from Macquarie Generation, owned by the NSW government, including Bayswater power station, Liddell, gas turbines and coal handling facilities.
The cost of coal power generators have tumbled in recent years, with businessman Trevor St Baker purchasing the smaller Vales Point station from the state government in 2015 for just $1 million.
Mr St Baker has already publicly said he would consider buying Liddell if AGL put it on the market.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will on Monday meet with Mr Vesey in an attempt to convince him to sell the plant.
AGL yesterday backed away from earlier strong statements about its intension to mothball the coal station.
“We understand the importance of this issue and it’s right the government is focused on it,” an AGL spokeswoman said.
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