Nuclear needed for secure energy future, says Beach Energy boss

Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy has thrown its weight behind the move to establish nuclear power in Australia saying high energy costs are ‘hurting mums and dads’ around the country.

Beach Energy says nuclear should be part of the mix.

The Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy has thrown its weight behind the move to establish nuclear power in Australia, saying high energy costs are “hurting mums and dads” around the country.

Beach Energy chief executive Brett Woods said the strong upward trajectory of energy prices and the gap in any current coherent energy policy to alleviate supply shortfalls and energy costs were hurting families and Australia’s economic competitiveness.

“I strongly support a sound economic and science-based approach to the energy transition which naturally needs to include nuclear energy,” said Mr Woods, who heads Australia’s second-largest oil producer with a significant natural gas portfolio.

Beach has warned that without an appropriate and stable regulatory framework, it is inevitable there will be increasing power bills, energy shortfalls and an uncertain transition to variable renewable energy sources.

Peter Dutton is pitching his nuclear power policy to average Australians, declaring the Coalition has a plan that is “going to keep the lights on”. However, gas would play a reduced role in the overall energy mix under the Coalition plan because nuclear would act as the main backup option.

Still, the Coalition said lower demand for gas-powered generation will ease price pressure for industrial gas users.

“The effect of halving the demand for gas for gas-powered generation will be that more gas is available for industrial gas users,” the Coalition’s modelling by Frontier Economics said.

The Opposition Leader said the Coalition’s approach would be more affordable, lower emissions and “deliver a plan … which will get the energy mix right”.

Gas giants Woodside and Santos said gas-fired generation would still be needed for Australia’s energy security even with a wholesale move to nuclear.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said in February that she believed Australia was unlikely to have sufficient time to adopt nuclear.

Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher.

“I think nuclear is going to be an important energy source globally in the future,” she said. “As we know it has zero CO2 emissions but obviously has other waste management challenges. In the Australian context, I think it’ll probably struggle for a variety of reasons. First of which is the long lead time associated with permitting and constructing.”

A Woodside spokesman on Friday said Australia needed gas-fired generation to back up renewables in periods of peak demand when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, particularly as ageing coal-fired generation was retired or required more down-time for maintenance.

“Natural gas power plants are highly flexible and can ramp up or down quickly to meet fluctuations in energy demand, making them ideal for balancing the grid and providing the reliable and affordable electricity we all expect,” he said.

The spokesman said this was reinforced in the government’s Future Gas Strategy, which confirmed the pivotal role of natural gas in Australia to 2050 and beyond to firm renewables and support the economy as Australia made the transition to net zero.

Announcing a 12-year LNG supply agreement with Japan’s Shizuoka Gas this week, Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher said the company was an important domestic gas supplier in Australia, “where energy security is just as important as it is in Japan”.

“Japan’s investment in LNG over the years has enabled the large-scale development of Australia’s gas resources, which in turn has supported the development of our own industries,” he said. “So we are securing both Japan’s, and Australia’s, energy future, and we take our responsibility very, very seriously.”