DRREA NEWS JULY 2017
AGL says it like it is
The top 2 paragraphs below of the Renew Economy article from June by 21 Giles Parkinson tell us heaps.
One day afterthe PM appeared to throw his support behind the development of a new coal plant for Australia– to shore up the nation’s “continuous power sources” – AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey has delivered a couple of energy market home truths and clarifications: renewables will be the only source of new baseload energy in Australia, and coal cannot compete.
In the opening address at Australian Energy Week in Melbourne on Wednesday, Vesey – who heads the country’s biggest owner of coal-fired power station – said that technology was driving the new market direction, which was to large-scale renewables, firmed up by gas and soon battery storage. The only coal plants that would be built, he added, would be “bespoke” – rather like an expensive, made-to-fit suit.
Vesey went on to say, That is the thing what will ultimately drive down prices… that’s what you need, is investment. “And nothing gives you investment like policy certainty,” he said.
Finkel on wind and solar
Chief Scientist Alan Finkel reinforced the views expressed above in the first 2 paragraphs of another June 21 Renew Economy article by Giles Parkinson. (See below)
Chief scientist Alan Finkel says it is clear that investors in the energy market prefer wind and solar because they are cheaper to build than traditional generation such as hydro and coal.
Speaking to the National Press Club12 days after the release of his Finkel Review into energy security, and a day after the Coalition flagged their interest in a new “state-of-the-art” coal plant, Finkel said wind and solar are clearly the preference of investors, even without subsidies.
Electric Vehicle Council
Recently formed the EVC has released a report on the state of EV sales in Australia. It confirmed that with the exception of the ACT, Governments offer few incentives.
Electric buses
On June 19 Sophie Vorrath of Renew Economy reported that Brisbane airport has become Australia's second major airport to add electric buses to its transport fleet with 11 electric buses to run an inter-terminal shuttle service beginning in early 2018.
Hancock's Daffodils goes solar
Hancocks Daffodil farm in Menzies Creek has installed a 5 kilowatt solar system.Hancocks is the latest addition to our guide to local solar powered businesses. There are now 22 local businesses in our guide. It can be found as a link at the bottom of the 'Projects' page on the DRREA website.
New Labor Policy
In something of a breakthrough ALP Environment spokesperson Mark Butler and Health spokesperson Catherine King have committed a future Labor government to developing a Climate Health and Wellbeing Policy. This development reflects the hard work of the Climate and Health Alliance and growing recognition in the mainstream of the health implications of climate change. See example below.
A SUBSTANTIAL and growing body of scientific evidence is highlighting that the public health risks posed by climate change represent a health emergency. The international medical journalThe Lancethas explicitly stated that without urgent action on climate change, the conditions that underpin the health and well being of the human population will be greatly compromised in the coming decades
Solar saved $1 billion in heatwave
This is a summary of an article by Giles Parkinson in Renew Economy on May 17.
An analysis of electricity price surges during the February heat wave in NSW suggests that rooftop solar reduced the market price of wholesale electricity by nearly 1 billion over 3 days.
It said, that “roof top solar supplied only about 2 % of the state's total power needs over that time but its impact was to cut the price of electricity by 60%, delivering savings of $888 million”
It went on to note the huge amount of roof top solar in Queensland. At 1.72 GW it is more than the biggest coal fired power station in the state. It said,” there would likely be another power station built if the roof top solar wasn't there”.
Energy park proposed for Point Henry
Friends of the Earth has put up a proposal for the use of the former Alcoa aluminium smelter site at Point Henry near Geelong. See the link to their vision below.
Battery storage paired with wind farm
The challenge of integrating variable generation renewables (like wind power) into electrical networks is being tackled in a world first trial in Spain. This Spanish trial has paired a grid connected wind farm and battery bank and energy management software.
The details below from Sophie Vorrath in Renew Economy on May 30 outline how it will work.
The storage system has two batteries in separate containers: one a fast-response 1MW/0.39MWh battery that can maintain 1MW of power for 20 minutes; the other a slower-response battery with greater autonomy that can maintain 0.7 MW for 1 hour.
Both of the Samsung SDI-supplied batteries will be connected to a 3MW Acciona wind turbine – one of five that make up the Barasoain Experimental Wind Farm – and will store energy produced by the turbine when required.
Free wind power training for coal miners
In Wyoming (a leading US coal mining state) coal mining jobs have declined a lot in recent years. Wyoming also has excellent wind resources. Chinese company Goldwind now wants to retrain some of those unemployed miners to work in the wind power industry.
Goldwind has “offered to provide free training to unemployed coal miners looking for work building and maintaining wind powerfarms and wind turbine technicians”. Maybe foreign wind companies working in Australia should offer retraining to La Trobe Valley coal miners. This story by Steve Hanley in Clean Technica on May 30.
Biofuels
Australia’s first biofuels pilot plant was officially opened in Gladstone on June 1.(Source Renew Economy)
The $18 million Northern Oil Advanced Biofuels Pilot Plant (NOABPP) is a joint venture between Southern Oil and J.J. Richards & Sons, on the site of their Northern Oil Refinery, and brings together five best-of-class technologies from around the world to produce biocrude and renewable fuels from waste.
Biggest battery in Australia!
A 1.6MW solar array installed at one of Australia’s leading star-gazing facilities has this week been joined by storage, with 2.6MWh of battery storage delivered to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, in outback Western Australia. The battery system – pictured below, en route to the MRO, approximately 800km northeast of Perth, by project developers Carnegie Clean Energy – is being described as Australia’s largest.
Stop Adani
In June and July DRREA members helped organised rally's outside the electorate offices 4 local federal MP's. We also met with Jason Wood on the issue and helped organise a joint screening of 'Guarding the Galilee' at Emerald library.