{"id":256879,"date":"2023-05-11T11:12:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T09:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256879"},"modified":"2023-05-11T11:12:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T09:12:41","slug":"energy-transition-turns-high-farce-power-prices-surge-80-after-coal-fired-plant-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256879","title":{"rendered":"Energy Transition Turns High Farce: Power Prices Surge 80% After Coal-Fired Plant Shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From STOP THESE THINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Destroying coal-fired power plants is all part of the grand wind and solar \u2018transition\u2019 and precisely the point of the subsidies to wind and solar which are designed to allow the unreliables to undercut cheap and reliable coal-fired power, thereby driving coal-fired plants out of business. The inevitable consequences include rocketing power prices and rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Australian state of New South Wales has just shut Liddell (above) \u2013 a perfectly operable coal-fired plant, that once delivered 2,000MW to the grid, around-the-clock, whatever the weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wholesale power prices jumped from $96 to $228 \u2013 almost overnight; an 80% increase within a week of the plant\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loss of that volume of power to a grid already teetering on the brink of collapse, can only help ensure that result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liddell\u2019s planned (yes, \u2018planned\u2019) closure was meant to be no big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, back in March 2017 then PM, Malcolm Turnbull came up with a cunning plan to use huge volumes of electricity to pump water uphill in order to recover a fraction of that stored energy as electricity by letting it run downhill through hydro turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turnbull\u2019s pumped Hydro plan \u2013 known as Snowy 2.0<\/a> \u2013 was meant to compensate for the chaotic output from wind and solar, filling the gaps, so to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In turn, once Snowy 2.0 was up and running all of those \u2018dirty\u2019, \u2018ageing\u2019 coal-fired could be shut down and dynamited. So far, so ideological.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The construction of Snowy 2.0 has turned into a spectacular and costly debacle; the likelihood of the project ever being completed his next to nil (which we will cover in detail in a subsequent post).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the mother of all white elephants and being a monumental failure, no one wants to own it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowy Hydro\u2019s former CEO, Paul Broad unleashed this week \u2013 quite rightly calling Labor\u2019s 80% renewable target \u201cbullshit\u201d; he lambasted the unnecessary closure of Liddell and ridiculed the plan to close the even bigger coal-fired power plant, Eraring as a guarantee of further price hikes and blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broad\u2019s timely broadside went for the jugular the claim that the so-called transition would take \u201c80 years not eight\u201d. STT begs to differ, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian households and businesses \u2013 already suffering prices amongst the world\u2019s highest \u2013 will not tolerate endless power price rises, coupled with routine load shedding and blackouts whenever the sun sets and\/or calm weather sets in. The political reckoning will come much sooner than politicos think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three pieces detailing how the so-called wind and solar transition has just turned into a perfectly predictable high farce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy prices soar as Liddell Power Station closes<\/strong>
The Australian
Jess Malcolm and Perry Williams
4 May 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coalition analysis has found NSW wholesale electricity prices surged by 80 per cent in the first five days since the shutdown of the Liddell power plant, as energy experts warn of record high prices and reliability problems in the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average NSW wholesale electricity price in the week prior to the Liddell shutdown sat at $96.40 but spiked to $172.89 in the following week, hitting a peak of $228.86 on May 1 according to figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AEMO issued at least 11 notices of a predicted lack of reserve generation capacity in the days after Liddell\u2019s closure, sparking warnings from opposition climate change spokesman Ted O\u2019Brien that Labor was \u201csleepwalking towards an energy crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy expert Josh Stabler said Liddell\u2019s exit, aligned with unusually high overnight pricing events and warned supply risks were starting to be exposed with reliability a concern for the upcoming winter. \u201cFutures price for most regions remain very robust,\u201d Mr Stabler said. \u201cWith the exemption of winter 2022 conditions, these would be considered record high prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new figures come after former Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad branded Labor\u2019s target to reach 80 per cent renewables by 2030 as \u201cbulls..t\u201d after the project was hit with a fresh two-year delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Broad accused Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen of misleading Australians about the difficulties of the nation\u2019s transition to renewables, and hit out at Labor\u2019s pledge to cut power bills by $275 as a lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes on Wednesday revealed that first power from the mega pumped-hydro project was now expected between June and December 2029 at the latest, prompting fears of supply shortfalls, price surges and blackouts. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Australian<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ex-Snowy chief blasts Bowen\u2019s renewables target<\/strong>
The Australian
Jess Malcolm
4 May 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad has attacked Chris Bowen and branded Labor\u2019s target to reach 80 per cent renewables by 2030 as \u201cbull\u2026t\u201d after Snowy 2.0 was hit with a fresh two year delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes on Wednesday revealed that first power from the mega pumped-hydro project was now expected between June and December 2029 at the latest, prompting fresh fears of supply shortfalls, price surges and blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Broad \u2013 who sensationally quit last year after falling out with Mr Bowen over the NSW Kurri Kurri gas plant \u2013 said the nation\u2019s transition to renewables would take eighty years, and accused Mr Bowen of misleading Australians about the complexity of decarbonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned Australia\u2019s national energy market was now on a \u201cknife\u2019s edge\u201d after the closure of Liddell and that the nation should expect blackouts on hot and cold days into the future, as he urged the state government to extend the life of Eraring past 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth is with this transition if it ever occurs it will take 80 years not eight \u2026there\u2019s massive changes that need to occur and I\u2019m deeply concerned about the rush, the notion that somehow this is all magic, we\u2019re going to wave a magic wand we\u2019ll close a peak baseload power plant that\u2019s kept the lights on through yours and my life and the minister can float all these alternatives out there,\u201d Mr Broad told 2GB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll it\u2019s not I can be absolutely 100 per cent certain its not available and the transmission lines are miles late, 2.0 which is part of it is late, and I think there are in report which tell them you\u2019ll need at least eight years to achieve their goal and that\u2019s 80 years not eight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEraring can\u2019t close\u2026even now we\u2019re closing Liddell we\u2019re on a knife\u2019s edge, you watch when it gets really hot or really cold, if the lights don\u2019t go out I\u2019d be awfully surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe notion that we can have 80 per cent renewables by 2030 is bull..t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Broad told 2GB that Labor\u2019s pledge to cut power bills through the nation\u2019s transition to renewables was misleading and false, and that the biggest challenges for Snowy 2.0 was still to come with the project\u2019s transmission lines \u201cmiles\u201d behind schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe notion you can have all this occurring without transmission and all the other investment which will cost the customer, the consumer the lot\u2026suggesting you can do all that and prices will come down is wrong. It\u2019s absolutely wrong, it\u2019s misleading, it\u2019s false and to keep suggesting that I think eventually the average punter wakes up,\u201d Mr Bowen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Broad said he was \u201cdead in the water\u201d once Mr Bowen was elected reiterating that they clashed over the future of Kurri Kurri gas plant and suggested Mr Bowen was ideologically opposed to gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Broad also said Mr Bowen\u2019s claims that he failed to tell AEMO about previous delays in the project were \u201cbull\u2026t\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake a big deep breath, you\u2019re a minister now, you\u2019ve got responsibilities, you\u2019ve got to put it all on the line, you\u2019ve got to be honest with everyone,\u201d Mr Broad said.
The Australian<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2018It\u2019s bullsh*t\u2019: Former Snowy 2.0 boss SPRAYS Chris Bowen<\/strong>
2GB
Ben Forsham and Paul Broad
4 May 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following delays, the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project, which is promised to store enough energy to power three million homes, will not be fully operational until December 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Broad, who was the CEO of Snowy 2.0 for a decade, believes that Minister for Energy Chris Bowen needs to face some \u201chard truths\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe notion that we can have 80 per cent renewables by 2030 is bullshit,\u201d Broad told Ben Fordham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEraring CANNOT close\u2026If the lights don\u2019t go out I\u2019ll be awfully surprised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EXCLUSIVE – ‘It\u2019s bullsh*t\u2019: Former Snowy 2.0 boss SPRAYS Chris Bowen<\/a><\/blockquote>