Allies say it is nuclear for take-off in climate ambush

Chris Bowen faces an ambush at the UN climate summit, with Labor’s renew­ables-only vision isolating Australia as allies charge on with zero-emissions nuclear technologies.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen. Picture: David Swift/NCA NewsWire

Chris Bowen is facing a nuclear ambush at the UN climate change conference, with Labor’s renew­ables-only vision isolating Australia as an international outlier as the US and key allies charge ahead with zero-emissions nuclear reactor technologies.

Ahead of flying to Dubai next week for the COP28 summit, the Energy Minister on Thursday defended his plan for taxpayers to underwrite 32GW in new renewables generation to help Labor achieve its 82 per cent renewables by 2030 target.

As Mr Bowen rails against nuclear energy as being too expensive while keeping secret the costs of guaranteeing renewables projects, the US, Britain and other key allies are leading a push to ­triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050.

The Australian can reveal opposition energy and climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien will travel to the United Arab Emirates for his first UN climate change summit, where he will deliver a speech to the World Nuclear Association.

US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, who believes “nuclear is 100 per cent part of the solution”, this week revealed he would unveil the first global strategy to commercialise nuclear fusion energy at the COP28 summit.

There is global momentum behind nuclear, with US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act supporting the zero-emissions energy source, G7 nations backing nuclear to help achieve net-zero targets and dozens of countries endorsing nuclear energy at a September meeting in Paris.

Mr O’Brien said the ­Coalition’s 2025 election energy policy would include nuclear over the long term while better integrating renewables, bringing on more gas and keeping coal-fired stations running. He said the UAE’s success in rolling-out four reactors in quick succession positions the climate change conference as the “nuclear COP”, with countries lining up to say “there is no credible pathway to net zero without nuclear energy”.

“This COP is the first time that we are expecting a major communique signed by our closest ­allies and partners (on nuclear energy) and Australia won’t even be in the room,” Mr O’Brien said.

“(Anthony) Albanese is trying to save face at COP with all of these announcements, he’s trying to get ahead of COP and potential blackouts in summer with this ridiculous announcement that the taxpayer now has to mop up the failure of government.”

Mr O’Brien said it was “absolute lunacy” for the government to double down on a “now disproven (renewables-only) pathway”.

“If you look at Ontario in Canada, over the last few months they have quadrupled their order for small modular reactors. The UK are going hard on a mix of both small modular and large reactors,” he said.

“The Inflation Reduction Act … put nuclear on par with renewables in terms of a lot of its incentives. The world is embracing a diversified mix understanding the importance of baseload technology and they’re opting for zero emissions nuclear. Bowen’s obsessed with wind and solar as the only means.”

Mr Bowen, who will convene a meeting of energy ministers on Friday to secure agreement on the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme designed to “supercharge” the renewables rollout, said Labor would not follow the Coalition’s “gamble for nuclear”.

“The UAE’s signature call at COP28 is for a tripling of renewable energy and a doubling of energy efficiency globally by 2030, which Australia supports. Australia has a massive comparative advantage when it comes to the cheapest form of energy – firmed renewables, with more sunlight hitting our landmass than any other country,” Mr Bowen’s spokesman told The Australian. “It would take decades for Australia to start from scratch if we followed the LNP’s gamble for nuclear in Australia, time we don’t have after the LNP oversaw 26.7GW of coal generation announced closure dates – with no plan to replace it.”

As Labor distances itself from thermal generation, the International Energy Agency on Thursday released a report declaring that new oil and gas investments would still be needed for the world to hit net zero emissions goals.

Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s energy policy would not put forward nuclear as the short-term solution. “We need to get more gas in, we need to keep coal-fired power stations running, we need to manage renewables in a sensible way. It’s not about nuclear versus renewables,” he said.

“We are looking at micro-reactors, small modular reactors and large reactors. However, we are only considering new and emerging technologies. The old technologies from decades ago that people want to tell awful stories about, of course we’re not looking at them, wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.”

While renewables investors, energy companies and super funds endorsed the expanded CIS, which lifts government-backed renewables capacity from 6GW to 32GW, the Coalition and Australian Energy Council said the market intervention was high-risk and could leave taxpayers exposed.

Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood, who estimates the 32GW of new energy projects could unlock more than $50bn in investment, said the expanded CIS might not cost taxpayers anything.

Under the scheme, auctions will be held every six months from mid-2024 to 2027, in which prospective project operators will nominate their minimum and maximum returns and when they will share profits with the government. “In theory it might not cost anything but the government is taking the risk,” Mr Wood said. “The government also gets the reward if it goes the other way.”

While he believed the government would now be able to achieve its 82 per cent renewables target, he said the policy did not solve transmission or reliability problems.

Origin Energy chief executive Frank Calabria labelled the expanded CIS more “ambitious than what we’ve ever seen before” after the company delayed a vote on a $20bn takeover bid to give shareholders time to consider the revamped policy.

AEC chief executive Sarah McNamara said the bolstered CIS should accelerate deployment of renewables and storage but it was “not without risk”.