Tony Abbott blasts Turnbull’s ‘anti-coal’ energy chiefs

Tony Abbott has accusing top energy bureaucrats of being ‘biased against coal’.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during question time yesterday. Picture: AAP

Tony Abbott, a leading member of the Coalition’s pro-coal ­Monash Forum, has lashed out at Malcolm Turnbull’s energy mandarins, accusing top bureaucrats of being “biased against coal” and exposing the government as “pretending” to be technology-neutral in its approach to energy.

After AGL Energy yesterday knocked back a $250 million offer from Alinta Energy to buy the ­Liddell Power Station in NSW, the former prime minister and ­Barnaby Joyce urged the government to forcibly acquire the plant, a ­request that was rejected by ­Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg.

Mr Frydenberg has effectively conceded the government is not prepared to take stronger action to keep the ageing coal-fired power station open, instead urging AGL to ensure it finances the company’s alternative gas and renewables plan to make up for the shortfall from Liddell’s closure.

Mr Joyce yesterday told The Australian he would tell the ­Coalition partyroom today that the government should “forcibly acquire Liddell” or build a new plant near the Hunter Valley site.

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Craig Kelly said at today’s partyroom meeting he would urge the government to toughen competition laws to prevent AGL closing the plant.

Mr Abbott also broadened his criticism of the government’s ­approach on coal to target the “bias” of leading energy officials, including Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman.

Mr Abbott took issue with recent comments from Ms Zibelman, when she said the equivalent of a coal-fired power plant was being added to the ­energy system every year through rooftop solar panels.

He and other pro-coal MPs, including Resources Minister Matt Canavan, this month ­attacked Energy Security Board chairwoman Kerry Schott for saying there was no longer an investment case for a new coal-fired power station.

“I’m sick of people who should know better pretending that unreliable power sources can substitute for reliable ones,” Mr Abbott told The Australian.

“Solar panels are all very well, but when the sun doesn’t shine they don’t generate any power. That’s why we need new coal-fired paper stations if our power is to ­remain affordable and reliable.

“The government should stop pretending it’s technology-neutral when its own officials are so plainly biased against coal even though it’s still by far the cheapest form of baseload power.”

Ms Zibelman, a former New York energy bureaucrat, warned in her speech at the Centre for ­Independent Studies in Sydney last month that the increased uptake of solar panels would make the energy market more unstable as the market could lose between 200 and 300 megawatts of power if the sky was clouded in a major city.

“It is a very variable system that we have to manage, which is very different than before,” she said. “It’s a big disrupter.”

A spokesman for AEMO said Ms Zibelman’s comments were made in response to the choices being made by energy consumers.

“As the independent market and power system operator, AEMO is making sure the power system can respond to the consumer choices and these changes to ensure we continue to maintain a reliable and secure power system at the least cost,” the AEMO spokesman said.

Mr Abbott yesterday compared AGL to a “militant union” for ­refusing to sell the Liddell station, ­declaring the time had come for the government to intervene.

“The government should compulsorily acquire this power station for the price that Alinta were prepared to pay and then it should sell it to Alinta and they can operate it,” Mr Abbott told 2GB.

“That way we keep Liddell open and we don’t have the government running a power station because Alinta has put its hand up and said ‘we will do it’.”

Mr Frydenberg said a compulsory acquisition of Liddell would be against Liberal values.

“(The AGL board) has said they are not proceeding with it. This is disappointing — even the fact that AGL did not feel fit to invite Alinta in to do due diligence to see if it would change its offer is dis­appointing, but that was always going to be a commercial decision,” he said.

Asked if there was any further action the government would take to try to keep Liddell open, Mr Frydenberg said: “One thing I can give you a guarantee on is we will not allow any shortfall in the domestic energy market.’’ He said AGL was acting in self-interest in not selling the plant to Alinta as the company was trying to keep power prices high.

Mr Kelly, an outspoken coal advocate, questioned whether Ms Zibelman — whom he called a ­“climate-change alarmist” — should have been appointed the head of AEMO last year.

He attacked her comments about rooftop solar as “misleading” and feeding the “green fantasy make-believe”.

“This is misleading because ­although the subsidies are driving around 1000MW capacity of new rooftop solar to be installed each year across the national grid — in comparison Liddell has a rated ­capacity of 1800MW and Hazelwood had 1600MW — rooftop solar only works at a 15 per cent ­capacity factor,” Mr Kelly said.

“That is, it only delivers its full capacity for a few minutes in the middle of the day — and across the year, it will only produce electricity at 15 per cent of its rated ­capacity.

“In contrast a new coal-fired power station can operated at around 90 per cent capacity producing electricity on demand.’’