The former CEO of Australia’s largest renewable energy provider has taken issue with the Albanese Labor government’s green energy policies.
Paul Broad, former head of the government-owned Snowy Hydro company, said the government would fail to meet its target of producing 82 percent of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.
The comments came a day after it was revealed that the Snowy 2.0 expansion would be over-budget and further delayed and a week after the Liddell coal-fired power plant was shut down, depriving New South Wales of 10 percent of its power.
Broad told 2GB Radio on May 4 that the “notion that you’re going to have 80 percent renewables in our system by 2030” was not viable.
“You can’t. This transition, if it ever occurs, it will take 80 years, not eight. There are massive changes that need to occur.
“And I’m deeply concerned about the rush, the notion that somehow this is all magic … we'll close a big base-load power plant that’s kept our lights on for yours and my life … and there are all these alternatives out there.
“Well, it’s not. I can be absolutely, 100 per cent certain it’s not available,” he said.
Broad took particular aim at the Albanese government’s plan to use green hydrogen to produce power at the Kurri Kurri gas plant.
Labor Energy Minister to Stay the Course
Although the Albanese government’s energy minister, Chris Bowen, declined to comment on Broad’s assertions, he did point to several of his policies in a speech on May 6.This included the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation policy supposed to underwrite high-voltage transmission lines to connect renewable energy projects to the grid.
It included incentives—Labor’s capacity mechanism—to invest in storage projects such as batteries and other pumped-hydro plants.
Bowen also pointed to his new Net Zero Authority, which is supposed to be “a one-stop shop for workers who are thinking about the transformation [and] how they prepare for the jobs of the future.
“We know it’s in the nation’s interest for Australian industries in the regions to be investing in decarbonising, and therefore it is in the interests of the government to help,” Bowen said in a statement.
But it wasn’t enough for many.
Challenges Abound
Yet the cost of pursuing net-zero continues to rise along with new local challenges.A new study by Global Data found the cost of a wind turbine has increased by 38 percent in two years.
Amid the global race for valuable minerals, the cost of copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and rare earths have risen on average by 93 percent since the pandemic.
Locally, there are mounting concerns about the transmission infrastructure required to facilitate net-zero, with protests breaking out across regional Victoria and New South Wales as farmers demand compensation over transmission lines crossing their properties.
Meanwhile, the price of Australian wholesale power prices in April 2023 compared to April 2020 has skyrocketed, according to aggregated price and demand data from the Australian Energy Market Operator.
For instance, in New South Wales, the price of wholesale power on a per megawatt basis was 178 percent higher in April 2023 than three years earlier.
While April wholesale prices were up 197 percent (in Queensland) and 140 percent (in Victoria) compared to three years earlier.
In recent weeks, the newly elected Labor government in New South Wales began opening up discussions with the owners of Eraring coal-fired power station, Brookfield, to ensure it does not shut in 2025 as initially planned.
