Australia’s Minister for Energy and Climate Change Chris Bowen has criticised the Coalition’s nuclear plan for the nation, saying it is a reaction to Labor’s “effective” approach to renewables rather than innovative policy.
He said renewable generation had increased by 25 percent since Labor had come to power.
The first auction of the Capacity Investment Scheme—a national framework to encourage new investment in wind, solar and batteries—that would support 6GW of new power, had received more than 40GW of project registrations, according to the minister.
South Australia, he says, is occasionally powered entirely by solar.
Mr. Bowen also argued the case for Tasmania, which in 2020 reached its 100 percent renewables target two years early.
The Tasmanian city of Launceston was the first to be lit by hydropower in 1985.
The island state now plans to double its renewables generation—powered predominantly by wind and hydroelectric—to 200 percent by 2040.
Mr. Dutton did not put forward a nuclear reactor site in Tasmania when he unveiled his plans to make Australia go nuclear last week.
Mr. Bowen says it’s the success of renewables programs that made the Coalition nervous.
“In difficult international circumstances, all this is working to stabilise and ultimately bring down prices,” Mr. Bowen said.
“The Australian Energy Market Operator, which runs our electricity grid, has said that ‘we are increasingly seeing renewable energy records being set, which is a good thing for Australian consumers as it is key in driving prices down.’”
Nuclear Would Lower Power Bills: Dutton
It comes after Mr. Dutton revealed his government would place seven nuclear reactors across Australia’s mainland states if he won the next election.Locations included two sites in Tarong and Callide in Queensland, two in Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales, one in Port Augusta in South Australia, one in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley and another in Collie in Western Australia.
On Friday, Mr. Dutton said nuclear would bring electricity bills down.
“Australian households are paying some of the most expensive power bills in the world,” he said.
“We will introduce zero-emissions nuclear energy in Australia, which has proven to get electricity prices and emissions down all over the world.”
Mr. Dutton claims nuclear would bring power bills down low enough to reinvigorate the nation’s manufacturing industry, creating jobs while securing climate goals.
Smart Energy Council Chief John Grimes has said he believed the Coalition’s plan could cost taxpayers from $116 billion to $600 billion, while only providing 3.7 percent of the power required by the nation, at the same cost of the current plan for renewables.
In a study last year, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) released the GenCost report on the costings of nuclear and renewables.
The report—based on South Korea’s nuclear program—found nuclear would be more expensive than renewables and would take longer to develop.
Australia is one of a handful of countries in the world that has banned nuclear power. The ban was introduced into Australia by the Greens in 1998, passing the Senate with less than 10 minutes’ debate.
Of the 20 richest nations in the world, only Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Australia don’t currently have nuclear power.
Saudi Arabia is building a nuclear power station and Italy sources much of its power from France, where 60 percent of power is generated by nuclear.
