Wandoan’s big battery

WOW, that is an impressive number. Up to 57,000 homes able to be powered.

But once again we are being told only part of the story.

Powered for how long? The battery is reported to be comparable with the battery built in South Australia which is capable of powering 50,000 homes for one hour and 18 minutes.

So at best the battery is useful to fill gaps arising from network outages.

It is reasonable to ask what energy source will supply power to the community, most importantly to industry, when the sun is not shining or the wind blowing, when our base load coal plants are forced out of the market?

I get the feeling that this battery is a continuation of the “rope a dope” spin associated with announcements of renewable energy projects “with capacity to power up to many 1000s of homes” but neglecting to say “when operating at design capacity” which we all know would rarely happen and is certainly not 24/7.

It is also reasonable to expect that we be informed of the cost to government of subsidising these schemes, as I am sure the developers are achieving a commercial return on their investment.

I suspect that there is no such thing as “cheap renewable energy” when all costs and charges are recovered by tariffs and taxes.

We can be sure of one fact which is that we and the next generation will have to pay the price in cost and debt if we proceed to a 50% renewable energy target without dependable, affordable base load power generated by burning fossil fuels, or developing nuclear power if we are serious about restricting greenhouse gas emissions.

JOHN COMPTON, Toowoomba