Essay by Eric Worrall
“… There was a lukewarm response from the market to supply extra capacity …”
‘Dirty’ diesel generators may be needed during Perth summer as WA energy crisis deepens
The body that runs Western Australia’s biggest power system may have to spend tens of millions of dollars hiring diesel-fired backup generators as part of desperate efforts to keep the lights on this summer.
Key points:
- WA’s power supplies have suffered from widespread disruption
- There was a lukewarm response from the market to supply extra capacity
- Generators may be needed if the electricity grid is overloaded
Amid widespread disruptions to WA’s power supplies, the Australian Energy Market Operator called for bids in September from energy companies and users to provide an extra 174MW of capacity for four months from December 1.
However, it is understood the system operator received a subdued response from the market when the tender period for additional capacity closed last month.
AEMO is now believed to be considering the use of dirty diesel-fired generators that can provide backup power in the event the grid comes under stress over the coming period.
…
In calling for extra capacity, AEMO in September noted the system was dealing with a “shortfall” of reserves caused by a number of different reasons.
Among them was the early retirement of a power station in Kwinana, south of Perth, an unexpected outage of another gas-fired plant north of the city and an increase in forecasts for peak demand.
On top of this, AEMO and the state Labor government have also been hit by the fallout from a worsening crisis in WA’s coal basin, which has long formed the backbone of the electricity industry.
Two months ago, the Indian-owned Griffin Coal mine near Collie, 180km south of Perth, fell into receivership following years of operating problems and mounting losses and debt.
…
The primary cause of this energy capacity crisis, and the “lukewarm” response to requests for extra capacity, in my opinion is regulatory hostility towards reliable energy and coal mining.
For example, the Western Australian Government has been pushing the claim they don’t need coal plants anymore, because of rooftop solar.
State-owned coal power stations to be retired by 2030
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
- Muja and Collie power stations to be retired in response to massive uptake of rooftop solar and renewables
- Changes required to improve system security and protect against higher power bills, as WA transitions to greater use of renewables
- Without action average yearly household electricity costs are projected to increase by more than $1,200 by 2030
- $547.4 million package to secure new industrial projects and create jobs in Collie
- Brings total McGowan Government investment in Collie to more than $662 million
- McGowan Government, through Synergy, to invest an estimated $3.8 billion in new green power infrastructure around the State, including in Collie and regional WA
- Investment expected to pay for itself by 2030-31 relative to status quo of increasing electricity subsidies
- Household electricity prices remain capped to inflation
Western Australia’s State-owned coal power stations will be retired by 2030 – as the continued uptake of rooftop solar and renewables forces changes in the energy system to ensure a secure electricity supply and guard against higher power bills.
Collie Power Station will close in late-2027 and Muja D in late-2029. As previously announced, Muja C’s Unit 5 will close later this year and Unit 6 in 2024.
…
You might think, if Western Australia wants reliable zero carbon energy, why not build nuclear? Mineral rich Western Australia has known deposits of 226,000 tons of Uranium, and vast empty spaces where reactors could be built far away from human habitation. But even mining Uranium is banned in Western Australia, let alone actually building a nuclear reactor.
This energy crisis could damage Australia’s federal government finances, not just Western Australia. A sizeable portion of Australia’s national tax revenue is raised from mining operations in Western Australia, a fact frequently cited by Western Australian politicians when claiming that Western Australia provides more than its fair share of taxes. But those Western Australian mines need reliable, affordable energy, to dig up the minerals, and to process and ship the product.
No doubt the Western Australian Government will respond to this energy crisis by offering more subsidies for rooftop solar.
Update (EW): Changed “West Australia” to “Western Australia”.
If it weren’t so sad, I would probably laugh. In some ways it is almost not funny anymore, because it happens. Every. Single. Time. It really is the definition of insanity. To a T.
Its because the coal mine supplying the power station is broke, which really means they want the more recent prices rather than the older long term price
Which proves they can’t operate in a financially stable manner when the state demanded price (to keep electricity prices capped) doesn’t meet operating costs to remain viable.
Long term contracts , which all were when prices were much lower
Any evidence the state demanded anything.
Different matter for natural gas supplies where the gas license requirements meant a certain % reserved for local market
This is WA which like many Anglo countries , the government or crown owns all minerals and resources in the ground , not the land owner.
With all your babbling, you still haven’t said anything relevant.
https://www.premiercoal.com.au/page/operations/our-customers/
Whats your input… zero . It figures
Wait until they use the diesel generators to shine lights on their solar panels just so they can still claim they are using solar power!
They have to reserve some diesel supply for the generators in the trunks of their Teslas, of course!.
Clap really really hard, and keep Tinkerbelle alive! Green energy seems based on faith and fantasy.
Clap, Clap, Clap…I do believe in fairies, I do believe in fairies, I do believe in fairies
Ding-a-ling…Ding-a-ling
It still hasn’t dawned on these dimwits that the sun won’t always shine. And no-one will disconnect themselves from the grid, for that reason – just in case. Why won’t AEMO call for unconditional bids 500 MW 24/7 for 25 years – that would solve the problem easily and save an awful lot of messing around? Answer: the political masters know that not a single renewable bid would be received.
The AEMO only works in the eastern states. WA main population area has its own grid SWIS and isnt ‘interconnected’ to the east
Even the north eastern Pilbara is its own separate grid NWIS
a lot of the major mining sites provide their own power
And the NWIS is powered mostly by local gas.
Exactly, unreliable solar and wind drive up energy prices.
In the 1970 to 1990 era my mob operated the iron mine at Robe River, plus the diesel power station that provided electricity to the other big mines in the Pilbara.
We kept an eagle eye on alternatives, especially as we got into the uranium fuel cycle through our discovery of the huge Ranger deposits.
At no stage can I recall wind or solar being considered as viable alternatives to diesel, expensive as it was.
Another big expense at Robe River was featherbedding unions. So my mates Charles Copeman, Herb Larratt, Ernie Miller mainly, sacked the whole 1,100 workforce then invited them back if they signed new contracts without unions involved. Most people did. Profits soared, accident rate dropped hugely and the company canteen no longer caused strikes when it did not have the demanded 13 flavours of ice cream. The sacking event started when an engineer turned on a tripped switch at the power station when that was a taboo union job. It was a weekend afternoon so no union guys were handy. It led to a book “The Power Switch At Robe River” that lacked the colour of the inside view we had of the dispute, which involved a lot of union people in theft, extortion, blackmail and ice cream flavours.
When I comment on blogs these years later, you can be sure that I have been there, done that, like Tony from Oz and several other bloggers on Jo Nova.
Geoff S
Thanks for that. Good to hear of way back stories
Yes, Duker, for the pertinent reason that some of us have lived through much better times and have a good idea or two about how to regain the golden years for a repeat. Geoff S
Don’t worry. Perth was abandoned years ago as the world’s first ‘Ghost Metropolis’.
Isn’t that right, Dr Tim?
Anyone who still lives in WA is therefore clearly either a member of a nomadic pack, traveling in huge convoys of camel drawn ex-Toyota Hybrids, flowing the winds of free wi-fi and occasionally collecting in larger groups to engage in the culturally significant ‘Bogan’ ritual, OR, live in Freo.
But yeah, Perth is a myth. Top Australian Climate Experts told us so.
Isn’t that where Mad Max-Thunderdome was filmed as reality TV?
Broken Hill
What is wrong with Australia? I always thought they were an independent minded population. Boy I guess I was wrong. It’s like a whole nation of Neville Chamberlains.
Through promises or threats, our politicians have sold out the people of Australia to globalist authoritarian extra-governmental bodies. Now, behavioral psychology (Nudge Units) are used to brain wash most of the populous into following policies that are directly against their interests. A distinct lack of moral courage from the people who were most needed to show it has lead to this. Likely that is due to people lacking in moral courage, or easily corrupted people being put into these positions.
The population is kept distracted by a combination of bread and circuses (handouts and crass reality TV shows and sporting spectacles) and real inflation that keeps most working families focused on just keeping afloat. The people are told that matters of policy regarding trade, economics, environment, etc, are just too complicated for them and must be left to the “experts”. But all the “experts” are on board with the UN SDGs and the WEF, and all the other TLAs.
Any who disagree with this course of action are denigrated as “conspiracy theorists” and extremists, and due to the brain washing of the masses, that labelling is generally accepted by the vast majority.
Here in Victoria, despite many years of worsening government corruption, and years of horrible abuse of civil liberties during COVID, the re-election of the tyrant Dan Andrews is still a distinct possibility, and there are still people who vehemently support him. If he wins, I may need to seek refuge in another state despite living in a supposedly free country.
I am so sorry to hear this, I always admired Australians. A person can’t go it alone against these monsters but we must find a way to educate the average person. It won’t happen overnight but if we can convince a decent minority that they are being lied to and cheated things will change. Your leaders in Australia are despicable and we’re not much better off in the states. Chin up!
Have you considered that you are flat out wrong. Sure the greenies are selling a crock with renewable ( unless it’s stable on demand hydro like Tasmania) but the reality in Victoria all the big parties are singing from the same sheet.
I wasn’t aware that Mathew Guy – Liberal Victoria was also endorsing the use of rubber bullets on the citizens of Victoria, should they step out of line with government “rules” – Same song sheet there too? Andrews is a brutal, sociopath, and needs to go, and his entire politburo…
Flat out wrong about what?
“ they are being lied to and cheated to”
Just a chicken little, it gets worse as they get older and think they know more
when was there a golden time that was better all around ?
We have found with Benefit in the UK that even if the majority of people see the light and vote for a sensible policy then this will be ignored and fought by the establishment…
Bob,
I cannot recall any time in Australian politics, bar one, when Australian politicians were so far out of step with what most Aussies want. The main parties are all gung ho on net zero by 2050, but most of us hate the idea. No big party offers an alternative.
The exception to representing the wishes of the people was the Whitlam debacle of 1975. That was correctly resolved by the Governor General sacking Whitlam and calling for a new election, which Conservatives won by landslide.
Look, I am in my 80s now, so I have seen a lot first hand. That is about a third of the recorded history of Australia. I’ve met Fraser, Whitlam, Hawke, Kerr and various other major players and at one stage I took on government relations management for our company that we had grown to over 5,000 employees by using hard science in mineral exploration to create new wealth. Geoff S
yeah I have my 10 acres n home up for sale in west vic now. prob is? SA power costs are 7c or more per kwh and theyve got sweet fa backups, and its the only place i can afford to go(maybe)
It is providing experimental replication for George Carlin on voters
Me too. I kinda thought Australians were like Texans.
But I couldn’t believe the submissive attitudes over their draconian C19 lockdowns (people locked into apt buildings with police guards checking their mail; C19 prison camps that didn’t allow incoming mail even; no one allowed OUT of Australia (??); drones surveilling neighbourhoods; the military patrolling cities; police smashing up cars of people who refused to state their destinations; etc) It was vast govt overreach.
And Aussies just put up with it all, like they lived in a Chinese dictatorship or something. So I’m guessing they’ll do nothing as their electricity “gets disappeared” too.
Yes, I compared them to Texans also, what a disappointment.
Don’t you get tired of making it all up. The public was overwelhming behind the harsh pandemic controls
Western Australia was prefect example, election swept the current government back in by winning a landslide.
Yes, humans love to be controlled.
really .
And yet the pandemic controls saved tens of thousands of lives ( until vaccines became available -unfortunately those that didnt believe in vaccines formed the vast majority who later died) and all the ‘controls’ disappeared and economic recovery came back so fast that demand exceeded supply
What a load of rubbish. We chose not to be vaccinated and I respect that many people chose to have it or had no choice for various reasons. My husband is not a young man and has issues with his immune system, I have a dicky heart. We have both had the virus, my husband twice and neither of us suffered more than a slight cold on each occasion, over it in a couple of days with no treatment required. Like Anthropogenic Catastrophic Climate Change, this has been orchestrated to gain power over ‘the people’.
Four members of my family who chose not to have the jab have not been infected. So how can you make the ridiculous statement that most of the deaths are from the unvaccinated? The jab does not prevent infection. Nor does it prevent deaths. There is plenty of information out there that can provide you with the facts if you take the time to look for it.
media and fearmongering did get a lot following der bigdaddy rules
those of us that refused to were pariahs and still are with some sectors of the stupid sheepies.
fine by me I know know who the dangerous people are
I never get tired of pointing out the obvious.
Mate, you’re the one who’s making it up. The vast majority of Australians absolutely hated and resented lockdowns. The government’s had the MSM running the show. It was never a real pandemic, it was about fear and control. And since you brought up elections, there aren’t too many people who believe that they are honest anywhere in the world. Whether we like it or not we are all voting for one government.
Maybe they are living in a Chinese dictatorship.
Elliott,
Much of our meek Aussie Covid conduct was caused by manipulation and censorship of basic information about Covid. People like my wife and I were in the very high risk group, fed a lot of fearful stuff about contagion and the need for lockdown. More realistic risk assessment simply was not allowed to be given.
There is still no single decisive scientific study that reports whether masks work or not. So we wore them because there was more risk in prison than home. Ditto for vaccinations, for distancing, for not going more than 5 km from home. In hindsight, it was a disgusting pseudo-medical display of brute force ignorance that achieved not much of benefit. There is no statement that it will not be done again.
Geoff S
Crocodile Dundee was a long time ago.
Aussies suffer from low self-esteem that stems from self-perceived provicialism. We try to compensate by being uber whatever we think is the prevailing prestige view in global centres like NY and LA.
It is a shame and it needs to stop. I don’t think the average Australian realizes how powerful the citizens can be.
At least Chamberlain eventually declared war when he found his attempts to retain peace at any price would not work…
between tugging the forelock to UK we now asskiss usa as well
last PM that dared fight that got railroaded PDQ ie Whitlams removal
Bob,
That was back in the good old days when we were the Lucky Country.
We are now the Dumb Country – in spades.
The coal power station problems are largely because the bankruptcy of the coal mine owners
‘Griffin Coal, which is one of Western Australia’s only two coal mines and a crucial link in the state’s main electricity grid, is broke.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-06/power-on-the-brink-as-indian-coal-loan-turns-toxic/101612696
Its really a dispute over price of coal under existing long term contracts. when of course newer contracts would be much much higher price per tonne
Where are the alternative sources of supply?
West Australia doesn’t have the largest coal reserves, but it has enough to keep going. The decision to close down West Australia’s coal plants and focus on renewables was deliberate government policy, not a decision forced by resource exhaustion – and sent a strong signal to investors that coal miners are not welcome in West Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/western-australia-quits-coal-power-plants-as-collie-town-reacts-/101152034
This is what I mean by “regulatory hostility”.
Yes but that for the future , and we both know it will become a moving target closer to the time as the renewable doesnt deliver outside its own little sweet spot
The current issue is the coal mine supply just isnt there and the reason the mine has gone into a form of Chapter 11 is that they owners want better prices for their coal to supply the power generation.
The AEMO only operrate as a more limited Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) in WA . There isnt any competing generators ( outside small scale and wind )to juggle
These are state owned Synergy for the SW region ( Perth area) and for other area Horizon who generate and sell the power
I’m sure right now, diesel is the only option to get them out of a fix.
What I am commenting on is the idiocy which has led up to this point.
If Western Australia had a healthy energy market, there would have been plenty of capacity to cover any shortfalls.
I’m still surprised that we can’t obtain more out of the gas peaker plants, or perhaps instal more of them throughout the Perth CBD.
A few gas plants would probably work, WA has huge gas reserves. But the Western Australian government has made it clear they only want renewables.
We can agree on that. The coal problem is just a preview of life without fossil fuels as the false renewable future doesn’t deliver
In 2 months ?
I’ll buy 1,000 units for $X per unit … let us agree to that and set up a binding contract for $X.
Later:
No, I don’t care about your economy of scale … we have an agreement for $X per unit. The fact that I only want to buy 25 units doesn’t matter; you still have to provide it for $X/unit. If you cant’ do that then you are a very very bad manager.
And, by the way, you still have to have 3,000 units on standby, just in case we need them. If you can’t do that, you are a bad manager.
It’s Western Australia, not West Australia. Well it was, but it barely exists now. One less coal mine and one more wind turbine, and it will be gone with the wind (sic). Or should that be (sick).
Thankyou for your correction.
Did you also know its Democratic party not Democrats , but who really cares
Well, they don’t appear to be democrats. I sometimes think that no-one understands any more what democracy is.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner 🤓
Derg: “Democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner”
The alternative in Oz is to go with Chinese take-out.
‘I think that no one…’
Stop right there , you are fantasist
There’s nothing democratic about the democrat party. I’m pretty sure you didn’t get to vote on “Obamacare”, student loan forgiveness, critical race theory being taught to children, mail in balloting, stopping border wall construction, and a host of other things foisted on the people through executive action and outright authoritarianism.
I have never known a democrat to accept the will of the majority when they weren’t in the majority.
Obama had a comprehensive health care policy- that became Obamare before he won in 2008 and of course he won again in 2012.
There you go , making it all up.
Mail in balloting happened while Trump was President and was in the various states election laws.
7 mill more voters went for Biden over Trump
Thats democracy in action
Trumps biggest state for votes ? 7 mill of them in California
“the early retirement of a power station in Kwinana, south of Perth”
Early ? That closed in 2015
Muja site has been running for 60 years and will close in 2029
WA doesnt have any interconnectors to the other states. and runs two seperate grids
The mines already run their own power stations as they need better reliability and certainty of prices
Feeling dense and inexperienced, however, I would expect coal to generate power to the customer cheaper than processed, drilled, and refined diesel.
However, aren’t both cheaper than wind or solar per Kwh?
Its hard to get cheaper than shovelling coal out of the ground onto a conveyer belt which leads to the coal power plant furnace.
The big cost of renewables is, regardless of how cheap the renewables are, you need a duplicate fossil fuel or nuclear power system for backup – which seems to be what Western Australia is discovering. So the true cost of renewables is the cost of renewables + fossil fuel + nuclear.
F + N + R > F + N
I think the coal powered stations have an economic life of 40 years or so.
Wind and solar , half that I think.
My brother sent me a link about a new offshore wind farm somewhere that had nameplate capacity of 600MW and would ‘power 500,000 homes’
Actual production would be more like 50-100MW averaged over 24 hrs and include grid losses , commercial , industry etc means its more like a city of 40,000 from its standard output
Sheer stupidity. Bluewaters coal power station at Collie is the newest in Australia and could have continued operation for a long time, but the Western Australian govt told them that they weren’t going to buy power from them in a few years. Coal energy used to supply 40% of the South-west SWIS grid, with another 40% from cheap gas, obtained through a very effective domestic gas reservation scheme. Now coal energy is only 20% or less, so not sure where the other 20% will come from. We have gone from a state that had cheap reliable energy to yet another state with looming power problems this coming summer.
Blackouts in Perth will not impact Pilbara mining operations – different networks.
https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2021-12/Energy_Infrastructure_MAP_A0_Aug_2021_o.pdf
Unless you have been to WA it is difficult to comprehend isolation.
The Pilbara mines have economic cases for replacing diesel with solar power and maybe even gas now the world is in short supply. This part of the world rivals anywhere for ground level solar. Average surface sunlight is 7kWh/day. Would do better than that with tracking arrays because there is not much cloud when the sun moves a bit further north. In fact there is not much cloud at all because the average rainfall is around 300mm. And that usually comes in a few dumps from rain depressions as tropical storms peter out.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/rio-tinto-starts-commissioning-gudai-darri-solar-farm-its-first-to-power-iron-ore-mine/
Solar was an economic replacement for diesel fuel in remote parts of Australia some years so is even better now. It is probably looking good as a gas replacement at current gas prices. Solar panels can produce more energy then needed to make them in the proper application.
I don’t have any problem with remote places installing solar if it is cheaper than trucking in fuel. But it is not a generally applicable solution. And most of those places keep the diesel backup generator ready to go, just in case.
Solar & wind provide SUPPLEMENTAL power to remote facilities.
Diesel generators + batteries are the mainstay.
That is what I wrote. Solar replaces diesel because it it economic. It means they need to ship, rail and truck less diesel fuel. Similar could now be true for gas only it is a case of making more money exporting it than selling it locally.
Rick,
Yes, if the economics for supplemental are favourable, silly not to.
But central planners want to go to only W and/or S. That is dangerously different to supplemental. Geoff S
The Pilbara uses the isolated NWIS grid which I believe is mostly cheap local gas. Believe the small moves to adding limited solar are just window dressing to appease the Greens.
There are some pretty big electric motors in the Pilbara that cut in and out all the time. They need a big, solid source of electricity that can ramp up in minutes to hours as needed. How do you ramp up a stand-alone solar array or windmill?
Yes, I know this comment is simplistic, but it paints a serious broad brush scenario. Geoff S
Western Australia has a large amount of roof solar, almost one house in three, that works quite well when the sun is shining. Unfortunately, on cloudy days like today and most of this week, its output is severe curtailed. And all that roof solar won’t help on the hot summer nights.
The worst part is it isn’t saving any money. Much of the cost of fossil fuel generators, particularly when they are coal plants colocated with large mines, is the capital cost of construction. That cost doesn’t go away just because rooftop solar supplies power some of the time, the fossil fuel plant operators demand and receive subsidies, to make up for the lost profit, otherwise they shut down, dismantle their plants, and go where they are welcome.
But the owners of rooftop solar have shifted a lot of the system cost onto those who are not in a position to install rooftop.
Eventually those with solar will install batteries and get off the grid. It is lower cost to make your own solar energy than buy wind or solar energy from the grid. It saves the humungous cost of transmission. All new transmission assets are poorly utilised and utilisation is declining as more lines get built to more wind and solar farms that are more frequently curtailed because the system is oversupplied.
The lowest cost electricity in Australia will be from microgrids. That avoids the cost of transmission which is increasing at an extraordinary rate.
The distributers realised a while ago the grid wind and solar was inevitably doomed in Australia and have been working hard on being relevant in linking distributed rooftops in a beneficial way as well as offering batteries to households.
Got a mate who has a solar / battery system – not because he’s a green, more because he doesn’t trust the government to get supplying electricity right.
Despite his large roof he can’t generate enough juice to run his fridge freezers AND air conditioning, and his cookers all run on gas. He’s fine with that, he doesn’t like aircon, but in say a Perth Summer where temperatures regularly soar above 100F (38C), most people prefer an air conditioner.
Perth already has cheap energy, so cannot see any advantage is adding micro grids, which are all being heavily subsidised by the govt.
This is too stupid to make up. No one would believe it.
Pity thor com weren’t up and running with there reactor on a barge would challenge there anti nuclear laws
When the legislated nuclear ban was passed Australia’s one nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights, Sydney, was exempted. Operating safely since the 1950s it produces radio isotopes for medical and commercial customers including export markets.
And last year when the Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) defence arrangements were announced the provision of future nuclear submarines for the Royal Australian Navy was accepted by the anti-nuclear political sides, they also oppose opening new uranium mines.
Yes, a contradiction. The nuclear sub fuel is high enriched, HEU. The worst sort as far as bomb making goes.
Yet it’s the French who use low enriched uranium in their subs. The good kind.
For political reasons they won’t touch a French nuclear sub even though plans were far advanced to build a non nuclear version in australia
Principles are cheap when reality bites….let’s hope they do the same with renewables when reality bites
I understand that influence from the UK and US was a factor and including the compatibility of technology required US and/or UK technology installed and France is not given access.
The six RAN Collins Class conventional submarines are equipped with US technology and operate with US Fleet ships regularly. Also the servicing of US or UK nuclear submarines availability at all of the navy bases is a major operational consideration.
The weapons system is US but the machinery is swedish and or Australian
No nuclear subs are serviced in Australia or ever will be , its an aspiration to do so.
What wind turbines are actually doing!
Starts at
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/11/monday-open-thread-15/#comment-2605334
Me
“Tony
A thought for when you view a photo of a wind farm –
John Cadogan ((Oz) motoring video producer) refers to Mercedes as “Three Prong”
One could borrow the term and adapt “Three coins in a fountain” to that scene, starting with (e.g.)
“Three prongs on a mountain”
Then Tony
“So that’s what I’ve been missing all along. It always nagged away at me, you know ….. “what am I missing here?”
Wind power.
It’s got nothing to do with generating power
It’s all just a subliminal advertisement for ….. Mercedes Benz!!
Cue Curly
Tony.”
Now for solar panels – over to crowd sourcing
Not only are peaker fuel oil generators dirtier than well controlled coal fired boilers, but, their significantly shorter stack puts the emission in the surface air where people actually breathe. More pollution less dispersion.
Given that logic and scientific thinking seem to be extinct, why are they bothering to keep the lights on?
Surely they can just say that the new future with no energy is much better, and cancel anyone who thinks that they are wrong?
Maybe a minor detail but the commentary on the article repetitively makes reference to “West Australia”. The name of the state is Western Australia.
read the other day that WA was importing coal from the eastern states. why hire the gennies when theyll need them for more than a brief time if they keep shutting coal power down
morons
hmm so wheres that wave generator power now I wonder?
Most WA mines have their own power stations.
State governments have always been too mingy to provide power to mining companies – in general.
I think we’re past a point of easy or quick recovery, and the politicians and eco-zealots keep pushing it even farther even wit things like this happening. I can’t help but wonder how bad it’s going to get.
Didn’t Australia elect a government that promised exactly this?
“WA considering the use of dirty diesel-fired generators” – dirty? Please, WA could not exist without diesel-powered trucks and ships.
I’m living in Perth, so it’s ground Zero for me. I think we need to consider Nuclear in WA, we got enough resources to power the whole country, and yet Twiggy wants to spend the amount on more wind turbines and solar PV, that we could build 1 or 2 Nuclear Plants. I got Solar, but it’s no use at night, so just makes it harder for Synergy I guess. Plus the Labor government, doesn’t have a scientific brain cell among them, just addicted to the Iron Ore royalties, whilst they lead us up the cul de sac in a B-double roadtrain.
I guess we could say that the majority of Western Australians are now victims of circumstance (The circumstance being their government)? So sad to consider.
Details, details