Talking Point: Plan in action to maintain state energy security

CONTINGENCIES are in place to handle Basslink and the drought, says Matthew Groom

Laying the Basslink Interconnector cable in 2004. Must credit Basslink.

THE Tasmanian Government has a comprehensive plan to ensure that energy security is maintained in Tasmania despite the unprecedented energy situation we face.

The combination of record low rainfalls together with the first ever substantive outage of the Basslink cable has presented us with a unique set of circumstances.

There is no doubt these are challenging times, but we can and will get through them.

The Energy Supply Plan, which we have developed in conjunction with Hydro Tasmania, sets out the measures we are taking to ensure the state’s energy needs continue to be met.

The plan is designed to maintain Tasmania’s energy security without Basslink in operation, even with continued low rainfall and another unprecedented adverse event occurring.

Our contingencies include the Tamar Valley Power Station combined cycle gas turbine, which was returned to service on January 20 and has been working around the clock putting about 208 MW into the grid.

We have also had a further 80 MW of gas-fired generation operating at the Tamar power station since early January. This brings the combined output at TVPS to nearly 290 MW and further work is being done to secure another approximately 100 MW of capacity at the site as soon as possible.

In addition, we are securing up to 200MW of containerised diesel generation on a temporary basis. The first tranche of 100 MW will be installed by the end of March with the first site at Catagunya Power Station to be generating 24 MW by about March 8. The second tranche of 100 MW will be in place by the end of April.

The combined capacity of all of these contingencies, including the voluntary load reductions undertaken by the major industrials, substantially exceeds the import capacity of Basslink.

The total cost of the supplementary temporary generation will depend on how much generation is actually needed.

This will be driven by a number of factors, including when Basslink is restored and how much it rains. It is important to note that while the costs are significant, our strong budget management since coming to government ensures we have the capacity to absorb the impact of circumstances such as this.

The plan will achieve energy security without the need for forced energy savings, but as we have made clear, Hydro will continue to discuss the situation with the major energy users and consider any additional prudent proposals that they may put forward.

Of course, as a broader community all of us can play a role by continuing to be sensible and prudent with our energy use.

It has been disappointing, but not unexpected, that the Labor Opposition has chosen to continually attack the Government over these circumstances rather than support the plan we have in place to manage them.

This is a serious situation and not a time for cheap politics.

Make no mistake, the Government will ensure that a careful assessment is undertaken of all key decisions that led to the current circumstances, including those of Opposition Leader Bryan Green, and in the end the truth will come out.

But now is not the time for that. Instead we must remain focused on managing the issue.

There are many people working very hard to help us manage this situation. I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank all the hard-working employees of the energy businesses as well as those across government and a number of external parties for their efforts.

One of the great qualities of Tasmania is a strong resilience in meeting challenging circumstances.

I have no doubt that this will be another example of Tasmanians working together to overcome a difficult challenge.

Matthew Groom is the State Government’s Energy Minister.