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| The gas-fired power plant at Colongra, on the Central Coast. Image: dailytelegraph.com.au |
After the recent power crisis in South Australia, US Energy giant Tesla has stepped in to offer a 100-mega-watt battery which has been met with criticisms.
Managing Director of Weston Aluminium, Garbis Simoninan says that batteries are an expensive, ineffective answer to the power crisis and that focus needs to be on Hunter industries that are already being hit hard by rising gas and electricity prices.
"Desperate people are looking for silver bullets and there is no quick answer. If you really wanted to solve the crisis in South Australia with batteries you'd need at least 30 or 40 of them but that is very expensive and not cost effective."
Mr Simoninan says that a 100-mega-watt battery only lasts for an hour which doesn't solve the problem of prolonged power shortages or address the fact that Australia has some of the highest energy and gas prices in the world.
He believes the answer is gas-fired power plants, which means the Hunter needs a localised gas supply.
"New South Wales at the moment imports 95% of its gas from other states. We need to become independent and develop our own gas which can be done from sites such as Narrabri," Mr Simoninan said.
He thinks that the Hunter need to weigh up the environmental costs with the overall benefits to industries and homes.
"The two issues are fundamentally fracking and the water table. As far as the water table is concerned there is technology and regulations to manage any issues.
"Queensland has been extracting gas for 15 years and there have been no environmental disasters. If they can do it successfully so can New South Wales," Mr Simoninan said.
Ultimately Mr Simoninan warns that unless the Hunter region gets its own gas supply businesses will close and there will be mass unemployment.
