Australia’s renewable energy dreams for the future are spluttering | Caleb Bond

Australia has been sold a pup on renewable energy, and now our early exit from fossil fuels is leaving us very precariously perched, writes Caleb Bond.

If you haven’t yet worked out that we were sold a pup on renewable energy, perhaps you’d like to buy a bridge instead.

I hate to say I told you so – but I did.

The whole thing has been shot to pieces in the space of two weeks.

Even Labor leaders now admit the rush to renewables is in serious trouble.

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s 10-year outlook update, released this week, spells out the risk that has been created by taking fossil fuels offline long before renewable replacements.

AGL has changed its mind and decided not to return a 200MW gas-fired unit at Torrens Island to power production next summer.

Engie is also mothballing its diesel-powered generators at Port Lincoln and Millicent in July, three-and-a-half years ahead of their scheduled closures.

According to the report, the “withdrawal of South Australian gas generators has increased reliability risks from 2024-25 onwards jointly in South Australia and Victoria”.

In other words, blackouts are more likely thanks to a lack of SA gas power.

It is insane for SA to be pulling out of gas when even the Albanese government’s resources minister, Madeleine King, now says gas is an essential part of the energy mix.

Australia’s renewable energy push has led to the early closures of gas-fired power stations. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

“We will need affordable gas to support energy reliability for households and businesses as we move to a more renewable grid,” Ms King wrote in the Australian Financial Review earlier this month.

That’s a Labor minister saying gas-fired power is imperative.

Meanwhile, NSW premier Chris Minns – another Labor man – this week warned the green dream would be in big trouble if people kept paying through the nose for more unreliable power.

“I’d just make the point that nothing will extinguish community and popular support for this energy transition (more) than a massive price spike resulting in people not being able to pay their bills,” he said on Tuesday.

Turn off the fossil fuels, as some would like, and we’ll all be on our knees.

The power grid has become so precarious that the NSW government will help to keep the Eraring station open for another two years. Picture: Richard Dobson

That’s exactly what he tried to avoid on Thursday when he agreed to cover the losses of Eraring – which provides a quarter of his state’s power – to keep it open for another two years.

Labor governments across the country are waking up to the fact that renewables aren’t up to the job and we need fossil fuels – but SA is turning off the gas.

Speaking of NSW, Ausgrid, which owns the poles and wires across Sydney and much of the state, last week announced it would charge customers for feeding power from their solar panels into the grid during the day.

Homeowners bought solar panels, trying to do the right thing for the environment, on the understanding it would reduce their power bills.

Now they’ll be penalised for generating renewable energy – and it will no doubt happen across the country.

So after seeing their bills skyrocket because of a shaky grid made up of expensive renewable energy they’re going to be stung again for participating in that renewable future.

Do you see the problem here?

Forget the bridge I tried to sell earlier – you won’t have the money to buy it by the time you’ve paid your power bill.

Though, I suppose, every cloud has a silver lining.

At least you don’t have to pay for electricity when you’re in a blackout.

Originally published as Australia’s renewable energy dreams for the future are spluttering | Caleb Bond