Despite campaigning on a plan to phase out fossil fuels to combat climate change, Anthony Albanese has stated that he is fine with using additional coal power.
The Prime Minister blamed the Coalition for Australia’s energy issue, claiming that the previous government failed to invest adequately in renewable energy and the electricity system during its nine years in power.
While the east coast sweats through a frigid winter, over a quarter of Australia’s coal-fired electricity generation is unavailable owing to planned and unforeseen outages.
With gas prices on the rise and energy bills on the rise, Resources Minister Madeleine King called on coal power plants to increase their output as quickly as possible on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese, speaking in Darwin on his way back from a trip to Indonesia, disputed that this move went against his high climate goals.
When asked if he is “uncomfortable” with relying on more coal power, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded, “Not at all,” later adding, “Coal is part of our mix right now.”
Coal accounts for over 60% of Australia’s electricity, with renewables accounting for 32% and gas accounting for 8%.
Labor claims that supplying 82 percent of electricity from cheaper renewable sources by 2030 will save households $275 per year by 2025 and $378 by 2030.
Mr Albanese acknowledged that foreign forces such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are driving up energy prices, but he claimed that Australia is worse prepared to handle the shock because of the Coalition’s energy policy.
‘One of the issues that has arisen here is a failure of investment,’ he said, citing the prior government’s 22 energy initiatives, of which just one was implemented.
‘You don’t have a grid suited for the twenty-first century.’
The Australian Energy Market Operator has identified $20 billion in grid upgrades that Labor’s Rewiring the Nation programme will bring forward.
‘This isn’t something we made up. ‘This is what the experts… (were) suggesting to the government,’ he said.
‘It had been nine years since anything had happened.’ ‘And this is the direct result of that.’
‘There are international reasons, but there is also the factor of the prior government’s failure to develop an energy policy,’ he added.
Mr Albanese stated that if the grid was “fit for purpose” and could accept more renewable energy, “you would have a significant relief of the strains that are currently in place.”
The Greens have slammed Labor’s push for additional coal, insisting that quick renewables investment is the way to go.
Leader Adam Bandt said Australia should follow the lead of the Australian Capital Territory, which has been generating all of its electricity from renewable sources since 2020.
While the east coast braces for higher prices, power bills in the ACT are scheduled to drop from July 1, saving consumers $23 per year.
Because it relies on solar and wind power and is less sensitive to global price fluctuations, the ACT is now paying less than a fifth of the NSW market price for electricity.
Gas prices are under pressure globally as a result of nations’ rejection of Russia’s abundant gas following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Germany has prepared legislation to prohibit coal power plants from being decommissioned, instead mandating that they be kept on standby.
Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Czech Republic are also planning to burn more coal as a temporary measure to minimize their dependency on Russian gas, while the United Kingdom is exploring for more gas in the North Sea.
Due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance concerns, AGL currently has three coal power units in NSW and Victoria that are either offline or operating at a reduced capacity.
The largest power station in NSW, Origin’s Eraring, has also been hampered by coal production cuts at a nearby conveyor belt-connected coalmine.
It has been forced to acquire coal on the open market as costs rise as a result of the global crisis triggered by the Ukraine conflict, which has pushed energy prices even higher.
The Callide coal power station in Queensland has also been shut down due to an explosion, creating a perfect storm just as Australia’s east coast has been slammed by a brutal cold snap.
The maintenance work at the impacted power plants isn’t slated to be finished until July at the earliest, and Callide won’t be back until December, but Labor is demanding that it be done now.
On Wednesday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen will meet with his counterparts from the states and territories to explore ideas as the Albanese administration considers short- and long-term remedies to relieve price pressure.