Warning runway not yet cleared for big coal plant exit
Australia is still tracking a potentially devastating gap between the closure of its largest coal station and the key technology that stabilizes the grid.
The system operator of the country’s eastern power grid has warned that the Eraring Power Station in NSW will be retired before key infrastructure is installed to ensure a “stable heartbeat”.
The Australian Energy Market Operator expects the machinery regulating the grid to be in place by 2028, but acknowledges efforts to speed up delivery 2025 transit system security plan.
Origin Energy’s Eraring station was due to close this year but has been extended until 2027 following an agreement with the NSW government.
AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman said there was an extreme risk of power outages but stressed that the players involved were working hard to avoid safety issues.
“The government, Origin and transmission company TransGrid are working collaboratively to ensure consumers do not experience any disruption,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
AEMO has been calling for investment in synchronous condensers, large spinning machines that help the grid withstand shocks and outages, since 2021, which coincides with the closure of aging coal generators.
These are important pieces of kit in the transition to an electricity system powered by renewable energy, rather than one dominated by emissions-intensive coal generation.
Ensuring an orderly exit from aging and unreliable coal stations is seen as an important “transition point” that AEMO should follow closely.
Another is the rise of rooftop solar, which now graces four million homes and can occasionally be problematic when producing in the middle of the day.
Batteries were among the tools flagged to manage the problem.
Households and businesses are increasingly adopting storage technology due to government subsidies.
Federal opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said energy minister Chris Bowen had “all egg on his face”.
“The transition is failing, we want coal out of the system as quickly as possible and now we realize we’re actually going to need coal for longer,” he told Sky News.
Labor MP Tanya Plibersek said the report showed coal was old and unreliable, renewable energy was the cheapest form of new generation and they needed to be connected to the grid as quickly as possible to keep the system stable.
“Of course, it would have been better if this process had started ten years ago, when the Liberals and Nationals were first warned that 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations would be closed,” he told Seven’s Sunrise programme.
Mr Westerman said all the stability issues raised in the report were well known, but the findings underlined the need for investment.
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