Nationals’ David Littleproud calls for urgent u-turn on Liddel closure

With just 18 days left until the country’s oldest power plant shuts its doors for good, a federal MP has called for an urgent intervention over fears of an emerging supply problem. Here’s why.

The imminent closure of the Liddell Power Station should be delayed if at all possible, Nationals leader David Littleproud has said, adding that it was “urgent” for Australia to have a conversation about bringing small modular reactors into the energy mix to provide firming power for renewables.

Mr Littleproud added that because the “low hanging fruit” of renewables projects had “already been picked”, the hip pocket cost of green energy schemes would continue to increase.

“Operationally I don’t know if it is possible but if it can be done, it should be done,” Mr Littleproud said when asked whether Liddell should be kept open although the plant’s operators, AGL, have ruled out any chance of a reprieve.

“But the problem is that all the renewables projects that have been done are low hanging fruit, that is they are already near transmission lines,” Mr Littleproud said.

The choice, he said, was between increasingly expensive renewables projects that would be both harder connect to the grid and more likely to disrupt agriculture and bushland or considering adding small modular reactors to the power grid close to existing transmission networks.

Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud. Picture: Gary Ramage

“For the scale of renewables Labor is planning, you’ll have to take away productive agricultural land and according to CSIRO build 28,000km of new poles and wires which will increase distribution costs and drive power bills higher.”

“The US is currently looking at under US$100 per megawatt hour for small nuclear reactors, which if you’re not going to havegas you need to firm renewable power.”

A CSIRO report last year put the cost of power from SMR reactors at between less than A$150 and just over A$300 per megawatt hour, cheaper in some circumstances than hydrogen power or offshore wind.

“Renewables need either nuclear power for firming, or they need natural gas, or they need coal with carbon capture and storage.”

Mr Littleproud said that the growing impact of renewables on the landscape meant that the “social license” for wind and solarprojects could be in jeopardy.

“In north Queensland we are seeing native bushland being levelled for renewables projects, and in Wagga there is a projectthat will see a thousand acres that is producing canola turned over to solar.”

Liddell coal-fired power station is scheduled to close on April 28. Picture: David Swift

LABOR’S ELECTRIC STORM: LIDDELL CLOSURE A ‘SERIOUS’ CHALLENGE

A perfect storm of delayed energy projects and the closure of the country’s oldest power plant in just 18 days has presented a “massive” future supply problem which even the state’s new Energy Minister says she is concerned about.

The closure of the Hunter Valley’s Liddell coal-fired power station on April 28 will remove 1200MW of electricity from the grid, with Energy Minister Penny Sharpe declaring: “NSW is facing serious energy challenges in coming years.”

Ms Sharpe said that “trying to keep prices as low as possible” was a priority for the new Minns government, and she would “keep all options on the table when it comes to keeping the lights on, including keeping baseload operating to meet demand”.

That could mean intervening to keep the Eraring power station at Lake Macquarie open beyond its scheduled 2025 shutdown date, something flagged by Premier Chris Minns ahead of the election.

Last winter high demand and baseload power shortages plunged the state into a power crisis and forced the electricity market operator to tap into special reserve supplies, even with Liddell’s contribution.

Energy Minister Penny Sharpe says NSW is facing power challenges in coming years. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The Australian Energy Market Operator also warned in February that energy shortfalls could hit as soon as 2025, with the closure of Liddell the first domino to fall in the scheduled shutdown of five power stations across Australia which currently contribute 13 per cent of the market’s total capacity.

Ms Sharpe said while she had received advice the impending Liddell shutdown would not impact electricity prices, NSW was still facing a shortfall if renewable energy projects “are slow to roll out or face delays”.

“My incoming advice is that (Liddell’s closure) will not have an immediate impact but any closure like this makes the energy challenge more difficult and the need to press the pedal to the metal on renewables obvious,” she said.

Ms Sharpe flagged Labor’s election promise to pump $1 billion into a state-owned Energy Security Corporation, tasked with accelerating renewable energy projects, as its answer to the shortfall.

“As the cheapest form of energy, getting as much renewable energy built and operating as soon as possible is essential to this task,” she said.

The Liddell shutdown comes as new projects such as the Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the Kurri Kurri gas project face delays.

Stephen Galilee, the NSW Minerals Council chief executive, said: “Despite repeated warnings over many years, the closure of the Liddell Power Station is now set to create an electricity supply challenge for NSW. With Liddell due to shut in 18 days, and Eraring scheduled to follow in 2025, NSW faces a massive challenge to ensure the lights stay on during the next few years and beyond.”

Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said the state’s power grid was well-placed to cover the 1200MW which will be lost from the closure of Liddell, but Eraring could be required to operate longer to cover predicted shortfalls.

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