EDITORIAL: Dangers of renewable over-reliance laid bare

Renewables alone are not going to be enough.

That’s the takeaway message from the Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Quarterly Energy Dynamics report, released today.

It blamed a cold spell across the Eastern States for both driving up demand for power and contributing to a decline in the power output generated by renewable sources.

The result: an increase in wholesale electricity prices.

It’s a very blunt illustration of the limitations of renewable energy. And while most sensible people in the room have accepted these limitations as reality, there is still a sizeable cohort of energy extremists who like to continue to pretend that wind, solar and hydro power will be enough to keep the lights on.

That’s simply not the case.

Fortunately, Australia has — for now — other sources of energy which can plug the gap.

Gas production was up 16 per cent and black coal supply increased 7 per cent across the same period that wind-generated power output fell by 20 per cent and hydro-generated power fell by 18 per cent.

Thankfully, both major parties have made clear they’re committed to gas through to our 2050 net zero target and beyond.

That’s important because as this report from the AEMO shows, we’re going to need it.

Resources Minister Madeleine King has recently approved or is in the final stages of approving a slew of permits for offshore gas exploration on both sides of the country. That’s a positive development for Australia’s energy security.

And Opposition Leader Peter Dutton wants us to look even further than that, to a potential nuclear future.

Mr Dutton said adding reliable, zero-emission nuclear into Australia’s energy mix made sense.

“What this report shows is that the lights are going to go out . . . You can’t run a full-time economy on part-time power,” he said.

“We know that when we’ve got no wind blowing, when you’ve got a period of rain or cloudy weather, the intermittent power is not feeding into the network and you need to have a reliable baseload power.”

The Coalition last month announced its yet-uncosted plan to build seven nuclear power plants across the country at the sites of existing coal-fired power stations.

The reception to that plan has been cautious — Australians are willing to be convinced of the case for nuclear, but they understandably want a lot more detail before committing.

While the major parties say they understand the reality that renewables alone won’t be enough to keep the lights on, the Greens and other climate fantasists persist with the delusion that we can simply shut off non-renewable sources of power.

They want a ban on all new fossil fuel developments and an earlier shutdown of coal-fired power generation, and they’re not bothered if they sink the economy and doom us all to sitting around in the dark by doing so.

As the potential for a minority government next term grows, so too does the danger posed by these energy extremists.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by WAN Editor Christopher Dore.