Today’s reports that Victoria is facing a rising risk of blackouts by 2028-29, following the decision to close Yallourn coal plant early, is deeply troubling.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has stated that energy reliability will be at serious risk unless new on-demand generation is installed to replace the coal station’s baseload capacity.
These findings come hot on the heels of the Andrews Labor Government’s announcement that it intends to phase out gas across the state. This would create an energy shortfall requiring the construction of 22 wind plants equal to the size of the Macarthur facility – the largest wind plant in both Victoria and the Southern Hemisphere – the equivalent of more than 3,000 wind turbines.
Labor brags about its six renewable energy zones, but doesn’t yet have a practical plan to get the power generated by these facilities into Victorian homes even as another major energy producing plant is due to go offline in just seven short years.
Its own Energy Minister admitted just two weeks ago: “You can keep building more and more large project renewables, but if they actually have no way of being able to fit into the grid, which was not built for a different system, then it is going to collapse. It is not going to work.”
In contrast, the Liberal Nationals have announced our Zero to Landfill plan to reduce emissions from landfill while creating a new source of energy.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, Brad Rowswell:
“In typical fashion, the Andrews Labor Government has been preoccupied with cutting ribbons on new renewable energy sources, rather than securing a reliable energy supply for Victoria’s future.
“Labor has had 17 of the last 21 years to “make it work”, but they continue to leave Victorians in the lurch.
“Victorians are being kept in the dark. It’s clear that Labor have no plan to keep the lights on.”
