16th November 2024
The “lights will go out’’ under a wind, solar, hydro model where all coal power is closed, the final day of a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy has heard, with concerns the nation cannot build fast enough to avoid huge price rises.
Sunshine Hydro, which has developed a 24/7 software-based energy connection system, said many people did not realise nuclear reactors could not be turned off, although they could ramp down.
“However, this may take an hour or two and it comes with a cost,’’ founder and director Chris Baker said in Sunshine’s submission.
“Therefore, a nuclear power plant is likely to be generating with substantial capacity even on mild sunny days when solar could provide more energy than needed.
“Solar generators, particularly rooftop solar that Australian households have invested in, will have to be turned off to make room for nuclear power in the grid.’’
Mr Baker told the inquiry that while nuclear was 98 per cent reliable it would take at least 15 years for the first power plant to be operational in Australia, although others following every few years.
“The length of the process and the various layers and successive steps of the regulatory pathway increases the risks of delays, particularly in the lack of bipartisan support,’’ he said.
“Pumped hydro stations could be operational within a five to 10-year time frame and developed in parallel with each other.
He said the latest CSIRO report found power from small modular reactors cost an average of $287/MWh but its system of efficiently connecting non-carbon power was 50 per cent cheaper.
https://sunshinehydro.com/static/cm20241116-grid-faces-trouble-by-2025-inquiry-told.pdf
Article originally published by Brendan O’Malley in Courier Mail (CM)
