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Energy crisis

CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

Eraring extension on National Nine News

Channel 9 News

There are concerns that current construction market pressures could delay the rollout of wind, solar, and battery projects needed to plug supply gaps when Eraring comes offline in 2025. “It’s sensible to look at what alternatives $200-$400m/yr provide for New South Wales citizens,” Tim Buckley. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

NSW’s Eraring move shakes upBrookfield’s $18.7b Origin tilt

Capital Brief

Energy analyst Tim Buckley contests O’Reilly and AEMO’s views on the ability of Eraring to boost electricity system reliability. “Extending the life of a coal clunker that is one of the oldest power plants in the electricity system is not a way to boost reliability.” Keeping Eraring open will generate around 9 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions a year — around 2.8% of Australia’s total — and cost $1.2 billion to offset via the purchase of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), a recent Nexa Advisory report found. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

CEF OP ED | Keeping the lights on at Eraring will only add to NSW energy risk

The Sydney Morning Herald

The NSW government has decided there is a case for extending the life of the nation’s largest coal-fired power station to mitigate our energy risk. But the growing risk for NSW actually lies in relying on one near-moribund plant at Eraring in Lake Macquarie for 16 per cent of power generation. In 2022, forced outages at Australia’s ageing coal power fleet meant coal capacity fell way short of forecasts, crippling the national electricity market. Keeping this increasingly unreliable coal power generator on life support as it enters terminal decline, and paying its operator hundreds of millions in public subsidies to do so, is totally unjustified. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

Review recommends NSW government delay closure of Eraring power station

ABC online

The NSW government will “engage with Origin Energy” on a proposed extension of the life of Australia’s largest black coal-fired power plant. Tim Buckley, from Clean Energy Finance, said providing government subsidies to keep Eraring open could lead to more setbacks for future wind and solar projects. “Every time you extend a coal plant, you delay and defer expenditure on replacement capacity,” he told ABC Radio Sydney. “So these subsidies would be crowding out the replacement capacity that would permanently solve the problem,” he said. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

NSW government starts talks to extend life of Australia’s largest coal plant, Eraring

PV Magazine

The NSW government has this morning confirmed it will “engage” with Origin Energy to extend operations of the 2.9 GW Eraring power station. The announcement quickly drew criticism, with Climate Energy Finance director, Tim Buckley, calling the move “totally unjustified.” Buckley added public money would be far better spent accelerating the transition. He called on the NSW government to replicate Queensland’s progressive coal export royalty program, adding: “it’s high time the myth of the presumed centrality of end-of-life, expensive, high emissions coal power to energy security was busted.” Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

NSW to enter talks to extend life of Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station

The Guardian

The Minns government will “engage” with the owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for a “temporary” extension of its operating life, prioritising short-term energy security over emissions reductions. A final cost and length of extending operations of the 2,880-megawatt Eraring power plant near Newcastle would hinge on negotiations with owner Origin Energy, the government said on Tuesday. Energy analyst Tim Buckley, have called on the government to use the funds it would pay Origin to instead quicken the rollout of rooftop solar and batteries for households and businesses to limit the risk of blackouts. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

Eraring on the side of dirty: Minns to subsidise Australia’s biggest old coal clunker?

Michael West Media

According to energy expert Tim Buckley, “Premier Minns has said categorically he does not want to keep any coal-fired power. Plants running a minute longer than absolutely necessary.” “We would like to see the government evaluate the cost of all the options, rather than this bullshit firestorm,” Buckley said in reference to calls for the continuing operation of the plant. According to Buckley, “the coal lobby has been pushing the government to subsidise Origin to stay open despite Origin’s protestations that they don’t like losing money.” Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 5, 2023

CEF OP ED | It’s time for NSW to close Eraring

The Australian Financial Review

Last month, leaks emerged suggesting the NSW Electricity Supply and Reliability Review commissioned by the Minns Labor government would recommend taxpayer subsidies to extend the life of Australia’s biggest coal power station, Eraring, on the NSW Central Coast, beyond its closure date of 2025. The recommendation is so contentious that the NSW government has decided to delay its release, originally slated for August. Australian Energy Market Operator modelling out last week – its 10-year electricity sector reliability forecast – gives new insight into the viability of on-time closure. Significantly, it shows that with an effective policy response, there is no electricity supply threat to NSW in relation to shuttering Eraring in 2025. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Sep 2, 2023

How rooftop solar, batteries and EVs can be ‘orchestrated’ to meet energy demand

Canberra Times

A story by the political editor of Australian Community Media for the Canberra Times with Tim Buckley as the sole spokesperson, detailing the concept and benefits of “orchestration” of distributed and consumer energy resources. Read more
CEF in the media  |  Aug 31, 2023

AEMO report shows accelerated transition to renewables can offset any electricity reliability gaps

ABC NewsRadio

As Tim Buckley says, AEMO’s new Electricity Statement of Opportunities demonstrates yet again that state and federal governments must move to expedite planned transmission projects, utility and distributed renewable energy generation, and storage, and that notably, any risks to supply can be adequately addressed by renewable energy transition initiatives currently underway. Read more
Media Releases  |  Aug 29, 2023

Gas lobby pushing back as momentum builds to get new homes off the fossil fuel

ABC 7.30

“Eighty per cent of the gas in eastern Australia is used by the gas industry itself for export purposes,” Mr Buckley said. “So the idea that we’re running out of gas is a deliberate political misinformation campaign by the gas industry so they can make even more money.” Read more
CEF in the media  |  Aug 26, 2023

Why governments are standing behind ‘coal clunkers’ despite record high power prices

ABC online

Tim Buckley says Origin is simply bowing to the inevitable by shutting Eraring seven years ahead of schedule in August 2025. He says not only is Eraring one of the most exposed power plants to volatile coal prices — if not the most — it is also among the hardest hit by the influx of renewable energy on the system. This is because Eraring — like all ageing coal-fired power plants — needs to run more or less flat out around the clock. But amid a flood of green power — particularly during the middle of the day when solar output was highest — it was having to run despite the daily cratering of prices. “If I go and flood the NSW market with a shedload of solar, that’s going to gut Eraring, it’s going to gut Bayswater because they have zero flexibility,” Buckley says. It was not designed to be flexible. Read more
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