The Nature Conservation Council has welcomed plans to create a new hydro-electricity facility on the edge of Lithgow in the state’s central west. 

“Energy Australia’s plans to establish a pumped hydro-electricity facility near Lithgow will help the city maintain its position as a key player in the state’s electricity sector,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 

“This is the latest in a series of exciting developments for Lithgow over the past 12 months, including plans for a grid-scale big battery and an eco-precinct on the old Wallerawang power site, and a push to establish an electric bus manufacturing plant in the city. 

“These are the sorts of initiatives Lithgow needs to prosper as the economy moves past coal-fired power to clean, renewable wind and solar.” 

Energy Australia proposes to pump water from Lake Lyell to a reservoir it plans to build high on the side of Mount Walker, west of Lithgow.  

During times of peak power demand, water will be released from the reservoir to drive electricity turbines before returning to Lake Lyell. 

Recent developments and announcements for Lithgow 

• Big battery. Neon is building a big battery on the site of the decommissioned Wallerawang power station site. [1]  
• Eco-precinct. An eco-precinct is also planned for the Wallerawang power station site. [2]  
• Bus manufacturing. The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils is lobbying to establish an electric bus manufacturing plant in Lithgow. [3]  
• Pumped hydro. Energy Australia announces plans for pumped hydro.  [4] 

References 

[1] Neoen plans massive 500MW big battery west of Sydney, 11-1-2021, RenewEconomy  

[2] Bettergrow's exclusive agreement for Wallerawang Power Station site extended, 3-4-19, Lithgow Mercury.  

[3] Why regional NSW could emerge as a hotspot for electric bus manufacturing, 8-10-21, The Driven  

Electric Dreams: Local EV bus manufacture needs investment vision, 8-2-21, Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils  

[4] EnergyAustralia excited about pumped hydro possibility near Mt Piper, 3-6-21, Energy Australia  

The $600 million the Morrison government plans to spend on a new gas peaking power plant at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley would be much better spent on battery storage.  

The government announced today [1] that it would spend more than half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ hard-earned money on a gas plant that will probably operate only one week a year. [2] 

“That sort of money would buy seven batteries the size of the one the South Australian government installed to firm its energy supply in 2017,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. [3] 

“Instead of lumping taxpayers with a $600 million white elephant, they could leave a legacy of more than 700 MW of clean, on demand capacity. As a practical engineering solution, the government’s announcement it just doesn’t add up.   

“This announcement is nakedly political, timed to occur just a few days before the Upper Hunter by-election. 

“Once again, the federal Coalition has put short-term political opportunism and the interests of their fossil fuel donors ahead of the long-term interests of Australians and the climate. 

“Scott Morrison is spending money on fossil fuels like a drunken sailor. The problem is that taxpayers and the climate will be left with the hangover long after he last left politics.”  

References  

[1] Federal government will spend $600 million on new Kurri Kurri gas plant in the NSW Hunter Valley, ABC, 18-5-21 

[2] Hunter Valley gas plant ‘would only operate a week a year’, SMH, 13-5-21 

[3] The original installation in 2017 was the largest lithium-ion battery in the world at 129 MWh and 100 MW. 

Nationals Leader John Barilaro has thrown the community of Wollar near Mudgee under a coal truck by using a new process to open up land for exploration without consulting the people who live there. [1]

“Wollar already has three massive coal mines on its north-western flank – Ulan, Moolarben and Wilpinjong. The creation of new mines east of Wollar will make the village virtually unliveable,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.

“Ulan and Wilpinjong continue to have massive impacts on the local community, wildlife and water supplies.

“Opening up the east of the valley for more mining will create a 40km-long death zone through what was a very beautiful part of the state. It’s a crying shame.”

Mr Gambian said the decision to issue exploration licences before consulting affected communities broke the government’s 2014 promise to give communities a say before exploration permits were issued.

“The NSW Government set up the Strategic Release Framework in 2014 to quell public anger about the vast areas of prime farmland and wildlife habitat being destroyed by coal and gas projects,” Mr Gambian said. [2]

“The government boasted at the time that the framework incorporated recommendations of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Chief Scientist and that it would restore public confidence in the process.

“Under the framework, the community had the right to comment very early in the process through a Preliminary Regional Issues Assessment.

“But the government has removed that right for some communities by introducing a new process called Competitive Allocation, which sidesteps community consultation and goes straight to the issuing of exploration licences.

“It is an outrageous betrayal of community trust. Farmers and communities are yet again collateral damage in the Nationals love affair with big coal.

“And the government’s approach appears to be completely ad hoc. Just up the road at Rylstone, locals are being given the chance to participate in a preliminary assessment of a proposal to open that beautiful area for mining. The government’s approach is cruel and chaotic.”

References

[1] https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-government-to-release-wollar-site-and-prohibit-open-cut-at-dartbrook

[2] https://resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/miners-and-explorers/programs-and-initiatives/strategic-release-framework-for-coal-and-petroleum-exploration#:~:text=The%20Strategic%20Release%20Framework%20for,for%20coal%20and%20petroleum%20resources.

MEDIA CONTACT: James Tremain | 0419 272 254

The Nature Conservation Council calls on all candidates in the Upper Hunter by-election to outline a vision of how to help workers and communities deal with the inevitable decline and end of coal mining in the electorate.

“People in the Upper Hunter deserve honesty and hope but the political parties so far are only offering denial and delay,” Nature Conservation Council Acting Chief Executive Jacqui Mumford said.

“Whether you support coal mining or not, market forces, renewables and international pressures are driving its rapid decline.

“Anyone who has been paying attention knows it, including the workers and families of the Upper Hunter.

“So why do the major parties continue to spin fairy tales of an endless coal boom? It is disrespectful and dishonest. 

“Coal mining will probably end sooner than any of us expected just a few years ago.

“This makes it imperative that candidates outline their vision for a diversified economy for the Upper Hunter that can support all the workers and communities through this transition.”

Candidates for the ALP, the Nationals and the Shooters Fishers and Farmers and the leaders of their parties have all come out strongly in support of continuing coal mining. One Nation, which has not yet preselected its candidate, also strongly supports the coal industry.  

AGL must guarantee commitments that it made in 2017 to fully rehabilitate its power station sites are honoured by PrimeCo, the new corporate entity set up to manage the company’s dirty energy assets. 

In its 2017 Rehabilitation Report, AGL committed $898 million for the rehabilitation of the Bayswater and Liddell sites in the Hunter Valley. [1]

“The transfer of these power stations to a new corporate entity poses a risk to the Hunter Valley community if rehabilitation falls between the cracks during the transfer,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.

“AGL has made billions from these highly polluting facilities. Taxpayers must not be left on the hook to pay for the clean-up when the shutters go down on these facilities.

“We call on AGL to explain what mechanisms it will use to guarantee the new company honours existing commitments.

“AGL must also confirm there will be no forced redundancies for power station workers as a result of the demerger.”

Mr Gambian said the corporate restructure that divides AGL’s energy assets into “dirty” and “clean” energy companies did nothing to reduce its climate impact.

“AGL is the nation’s dirtiest climate polluter as owner of the Liddell and Bayswater coal-fired power stations in NSW and the massive Loy Yang A power station in Victoria,” Mr Gambian said.

“This restructure is a branding exercise that ignores the urgent need to reduce the total climate impact of its assets.

“This is a cynical piece of corporate spin. 

“It doesn’t matter how the company structures itself or what it calls itself, the fact remains that these assets will still be doing massive harm to the climate and must close sooner rather than later.”

References

[1] Rehabilitation: AGL’s approach to rehabilitation of power generation infrastructure, 2017

Leading energy research company, RepuTex, has found transitioning the NSW to 100% clean energy by 2030 would deliver consistently lower wholesale power prices than business-as-usual. [1] 

RepuTex found that under the current approach to the energy transition, where the last coal-fired power station closes around 2045, wholesale prices would range between $50MWh and $80MWh over the next decade. 

This was substantially more than $47/MWh to $60/MWh range forecast if NSW transitions more quickly to 100% renewables, where the last coal-fired power station closes in 2030. 

“This report clearly shows that it is technically feasible to make the NSW electricity sector 100% renewable by 2030,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 

“It also shows that we can do it without affecting power prices or reliability. 

“As we have seen over the past few weeks, renewables have put huge downward pressure on electricity prices and the profitability of companies that run the coal-fired power stations. [2] 

“That pressure will remain until the last coal station closes. It’s no longer a matter of whether this transition will occur, but how fast. 

“The big missing piece is a transition plan for coal communities like those at Lithgow, on the Central Coast and in the Hunter. 

“Governments and the major political parties have completely failed these communities. They have told them fairytales of coal forever and failed to plan the real future that is coming faster than anyone imagined. 

“The report also shows the importance of installing big batteries and completing transmission lines on time to ensure that reliability and low prices is maintained as all five coal-fired power stations retire.”  

KEY FINDINGS 

RE100 is technically feasible. 

• Transitioning to RE100 is possible using existing technologies if there is sufficient investment. 
• Renewable energy generation must grow six-fold from 12 TWh in 2019-20 to 72 TWh in 2030. 
• Variable renewable energy capacity must grow by 24 GW from roughly 8 GW in 2019-20 to 32 GW in 2030. This requires addition of: 
  • 6,000 MW of distributed PV, and 
  • 18,000 MW of large-scale wind and solar 
• Storage must grow by over 10,000 MW, including: 
  • Almost 8,000 MW of dispatchable storage (including snowy 2.0). 
  • Almost 3,000 MW of behind-the-meter batteries.  

RE100 would be cost-neutral for consumers. 

• Short-term annual average wholesale electricity prices are forecast to be below business-as-usual levels. 
• Average prices will range between a high of $60/MWh after the closure of Liddell in 2023 to a low of $47/MWh as transmission projects fully connect Snowy 2.0, expand the Queensland interconnection and open a new Renewable Energy Zone in New England.  

Barriers to be overcome. 

• Continuing to attract investment in renewable generation and clean flexible capacity; 
• Coordinating the phase-out of coal-fired generation with VRE integration and transmission upgrades to maintain supply during the transition. 
• Developing transmission infrastructure at a pace matching the development of new VRE and storage. 

Policy and investment settings 

New policy and investment settings will be required to overcome the identified barriers, including: 

• expanded investment targets for clean energy and storage,  
• a co-ordinated, orderly phase-out of coal-fired facilities, 
• additional priority transmission infrastructure, and 
• implementation of the recently legislated Energy Security Target   

References 

[1] Cost and reliability analysis of a Paris-compliant energy transition in NSW, RepuTex, 2020 

[2] Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025, 24-2-21, The Guardian.  

About RepuTex  

RepuTex is Australia's leading provider of research, pricing and advisory services for the local energy and environmental markets. 

MEDIA CONTACT: James Tremain | 0419 272 2

Leading energy research company, RepuTex, has found transitioning NSW to 100% clean energy by 2030 would deliver consistently lower wholesale power prices than business-as-usual. [1]

RepuTex found that under the current approach to the energy transition, where the last coal-fired power station closes around 2045, wholesale prices would range between $50MWh and $80MWh over the next decade.

This was substantially more than $47/MWh to $60/MWh range forecast if NSW transitions more quickly to 100% renewables, where the last coal-fired power station closes in 2030.

“This report clearly shows that it is technically feasible to make the NSW electricity sector 100% renewable by 2030,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.

“It also shows that we can do it without affecting power prices or reliability.

“As we have seen over the past few weeks, renewables have put huge downward pressure on electricity prices and the profitability of companies that run the coal-fired power stations. [2]

“That pressure will remain until the last coal station closes. It’s no longer a matter of whether this transition will occur, but how fast.

“The big missing piece is a transition plan for coal communities like those at Lithgow, on the Central Coast and in the Hunter. 

“Governments and the major political parties have completely failed these communities. They have told them fairytales of coal forever and failed to plan the real future that is coming faster than anyone imagined.

“The report also shows the importance of installing big batteries and completing transmission lines on time to ensure that reliability and low prices is maintained as all five coal-fired power stations retire.” 

KEY FINDINGS

RE100 is technically feasible.

• Transitioning to RE100 is possible using existing technologies if there is sufficient investment.
• Renewable energy generation must grow six-fold from 12 TWh in 2019-20 to 72 TWh in 2030.
• Variable renewable energy capacity must grow by 24 GW from roughly 8 GW in 2019-20 to 32 GW in 2030. This requires addition of:
  • 6,000 MW of distributed PV, and
  • 18,000 MW of large-scale wind and solar
• Storage must grow by over 10,000 MW, including:
  • Almost 8,000 MW of dispatchable storage (including snowy 2.0).
  • Almost 3,000 MW of behind-the-meter batteries. 

RE100 would be cost-neutral for consumers.

• Short-term annual average wholesale electricity prices are forecast to be below business-as-usual levels.
• Average prices will range between a high of $60/MWh after the closure of Liddell in 2023 to a low of $47/MWh as transmission projects fully connect Snowy 2.0, expand the Queensland interconnection and open a new Renewable Energy Zone in New England.

Barriers to be overcome.

• Continuing to attract investment in renewable generation and clean flexible capacity;
• Coordinating the phase-out of coal-fired generation with VRE integration and transmission upgrades to maintain supply during the transition.
• Developing transmission infrastructure at a pace matching the development of new VRE and storage.

Policy and investment settings

New policy and investment settings will be required to overcome the identified barriers, including:

• expanded investment targets for clean energy and storage, 
• a co-ordinated, orderly phase-out of coal-fired facilities,
• additional priority transmission infrastructure, and
• implementation of the recently legislated Energy Security Target

References

[1] Cost and reliability analysis of a Paris-compliant energy transition in NSW, RepuTex, 2020

[2] Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025, 24-2-21, The Guardian. 

About RepuTex 

RepuTex is Australia's leading provider of research, pricing and advisory services for the local energy and environmental markets.

MEDIA CONTACT: James Tremain | 0419 272 254

• 102,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides; 
• 153,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide; 
• 1,312 tonnes of coarse particles (PM10); and   
• 358 tonnes of fine particles (PM2.5). 

Angus Place Colliery near Lithgow may soon be a worthless stranded asset because its main customer, Mt Piper power station, could be broke by 2025, new economic analysis shows.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has released a report today that shows Mt Piper power station, owned by Energy Australia, losing $50 million a year by 2025. 

The analysis echoes comments made by Australian Energy Security Board Chairperson Kerry Schott last week, who said coal-fired power stations “will probably go four or five years earlier [than their scheduled closure date] because they are not making any money and they may go before that”. [2] 

“It is hard to imagine Energy Australia wearing $50m annual losses for long before they decide to pull the pin,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 

“If that happens, the Angus Place Colliery expansion will be a white elephant — a stranded asset and a toxic legacy.” 

The NSW Planning Department is currently considering a proposal to expand the Angus Place Colliery to supply Mt Piper power station.

“The NSW Government should reject the Angus Place application because the economic argument, which was always flimsy, is getting weaker every time there is a new report,” Mr Gambian said. 

“The expansion plans don’t stack up, not in terms of the ecology, the economics or the climate.

“This mine expansion would cause a local ecological catastrophe by draining and killing rare wetlands, and for what? It seems unlikely to even keep Mt Piper going.

“There are huge opportunities beyond coal for communities like Lithgow, but they will require investment by the government and business.

“Lithgow can’t reach its post-coal potential alone - it needs substantial support from the state and federal governments. That support is conspicuously lacking.

“Change in our energy systems is gathering pace so coal communities need government help to get on board or they will be left behind.

“Germany has created a 40 billion euro fund to help its coal communities develop new economic opportunities. 

“We need something similar to ensure our communities don’t suffer because of the rapid international shift away from coal.

“We call on the NSW government to set aside a substantial fund, with billions of dollars to ensure no worker is left high and dry and that coal mining regions will have sufficient resources to adapt economically.”

References

[1] Fast Erosion of Coal Plant Profits in the National Electricity Market, IEEFA, February 2021. See Figure 1, page 3. 

[2] Coal power stations going broke: Schott, AFR, 16-2-21