Urgent Investment Needed for Renewables

BY OLIVIA DILLON 

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), says urgent investment is needed for the Hunter's renewable energy projects. 

With the upcoming closure of the Liddell Power Station, the Operator has updated the 2022 Electricity Statement of Opportunities, and says projects in the pipeline need to be fast-tracked, to avoid the continuation of soaring energy costs. 

The update reflects key concerns already held by the region's peak business body. 

Business Hunter CEO Bob Hawes, said measures need to be put in place across the region, to prepare businesses and households for the possibility renewables won't initially be able to match domestic demand. 

"We've got to now stress more strongly to businesses and the community, to look much more carefully at energy conservation measures; how they can put in place measures that will reduce their energy consumption as a way to offset the pressure that they're likely to come under as power shortages continue," Mr Hawes said. 

"If they do, it's likely we're not going to see the stabilization of prices at all. Prices are likely to stay quite high." 

He also said with the election coming up in March, investment in renewables should be a priority. 

"We're recommending the incoming state government look at the opportunity to automatically designate any renewable energy project as a state-significant infrastructure project, so it moves quickly through the planning process," Mr Hawes said. 

"We need to give these projects as much support as we possibly can, because at the moment it's looking a little bit grim based on AEMO's forecast."  

Eraring Power Station to close seven years early

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Origin Energy have announced they're now seeking approval to close the Eraring Power Station in August 2025 seven years of schedule.

The Hunter Valley facility is Australia's biggest coal-fired power plant.

It's the company's only coal-fired generator, meaning it will rely on gas and renewables for power from now on.

It comes as the State Government announces $100 billion worth in expressions of interest for the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Zone. 

AGL announced last week its Bayswater Power Station could close as early as 2030 and no later than 2033.

Liddell is already set to shut next year.

Image credit:www.originenergy.com.au

Kurri Kurri gas plant given the green light after email mishap

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The controversial Kurri Kurri gas plant will go ahead, revealed after an email bungle on Monday afternoon.

Key stakeholders found out about the approval when they received an email from the planning portal in error on Monday afternoon.

The Planning Minister has since formally approved the project, ticking off the last hurdle. 

It's likely to be Rob Stokes' last action in the role, after the portfolio changed hands in the Cabinet's latest reshuffle. 

Gas Free Hunter Alliance's Fiona Lee says it's not a shock it's been announced in the days before Christmas.

"We know that the State Government's trying to hide this approval by announcing it when people are just distracted," Ms Lee said.

"They want to slip it under the radar, they know it's a really unpopular project."

Construction of the new plant is set to begin next year.

The Federal Government's pushed the project as a necessary complement to keep electricity supply stable and affordable.

But Ms Lee says it just doesn't add up with the State's net zero emissions targets.

"We'll continue to try and stop the gas plant from moving ahead, at every stage," Ms Lee said.

"We'll be launching a legal case and looking at every other avenue to have this ridiculous waste of public money stopped."

Image credit: infrastructurepipeline.org

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon Accused of "Green Washing" the Re-Start of Upper Hunter Power Station

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon is under fire after backing the controversial Redbank Power Station earlier this week.

The Warkworth site is set to be reopened as a wood-waste biomass power station, after being closed as a coal-fired station in 2014.

Mr Fitzgibbon, the former Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources,  says the generator will be beneficial to keeping the state's electricity supply reliable and affordable.

But local activists in the Redbank Action Group said claims that the recommissioned station, once Australia's biggest polluting electricity generator, will produce green and renewable energy were simply unfounded. 

Environmental advocates say between industrial logging projects, truck movements, and the burning of forest waste, the station could be even more destructive than before.

Redbank Action Group's David Burgess says the numbers simply don't add up to sustainability.

“This is our valley’s transition nightmare,” Mr Burgess said. “At a time when the best minds in the Hunter are coming together to negotiate a difficult path beyond coal, the last thing we need is a Trojan horse of fake forest logging jobs masquerading as green energy.”

Mr Fitzgibbon denied accusations about the Redbank project, saying the station will be a "multiple win".

"Forestry is a renewable product, so this is an environmentally sound proposal which will also allow us to recommission a big power station and make the timber industry more profitable," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"There are some people who are against everything, isn't there?" Mr Fitzgibbon said.

"Of course, where you have employment you have truck movements, and I'm sure that can be managed, but this is an exciting opportunity to recommission Redbank Power Station."

Image credit: https://verdantearthtechnologieslimited.com/