Energy boost North needs
THE announcement that the Turnbull Government will underwrite the construction of new coal- fired power stations in regions such as North Queensland to deal with rising power bills for families and businesses is overdue, but welcome.
The Australian Power Project has been calling for this development for the past two years, and the Government’s announcement follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report released last month which recommended government support for new baseload generators.
North Queensland has abundant natural resources that can be used to generate clean energy in high efficiency low emissions ( HELE) power stations that use the very latest technology. Over a thousand HELE power stations are already planned, under construction, or in use around the world.
North Queensland coal is used by other countries to provide cheap and reliable energy for their citizens — but shunned locally. Why?
North Queensland now has an opportunity to take advantage of its abundant coal resources to attract jobs, investment, and much needed competition to Ergon.
A report by the Palaszczuk Government last year confirmed a new coal- fired power station in North Queensland would lower power prices and create thousands of jobs.
Technology is making wind and solar more viable. That is true. But it is also true that when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, these technologies contribute nothing to the electricity grid.
Yet when your family is home, you still need the lights on and the stove to be hot and the fridge to be cold and the airconditioning to be working. Life doesn’t wait for renewables. The lack of a coal- fired generation in North Queensland means the region is paying higher electricity prices than other parts of the state — or the nation, in fact, paying some of the highest power prices in the world.
The huge subsidies for more expensive green energy and gas- fired generators has pushed family budgets to breaking point, and failed to give industry the confidence to invest.
All sides of politics should heed the spirit of the ACCC’s recent report and put affordability at the heart of energy policy to lower the cost of living for families and attract industry and manufacturing investment to the region.
To ignore the reality of what is occurring around the world with the uptake of new HELE power stations is to condemn North Queensland to uncompetitive high power prices for the next decade.
The Turnbull Government must be supported on this initiative and North Queensland must finally get the energy boost it deserves.
• Nathan Vass is Founder of the Australian Power Project, a leading advocacy group calling for a balanced and sustainable approach to achieving a clean energy future.