Nationals’ Latest Coal Power Push Challenged By Liberal MP

Senator Matt Canavan via Facebook

The National Party’s Backbench Policy Committee released its Manufacturing 2035 plan on Tuesday – it was no surprise to see coal mentioned.

The document features a 9-point plan and sets a goal of doubling employment in Australian manufacturing.

“We must take radical action to reverse the trend in fewer things being made in Australia,” said Senator Matt Canavan, chair of the Policy Committee.

Senator Canavan says this includes reinvesting in Australian energy resources such as coal and gas.

The paper states the main barrier to Australian manufacturing strength over the past decade has been Australia’s high energy costs..

“The way to get power prices down is simple. We need more supply of affordable and reliable power. Intermittent renewable power is not the answer to restore Australia’s manufacturing strength.”

The Committee says Australia needs to build modern coal fired power stations to help manufacturing industries. While the Nationals are already backing a coal power station at Collinsville in North Queensland, the paper indicates more will need to be built and calls for the Morrison Government to also support a new coal burner in the Hunter Valley.

While very pro-coal, Senator Canavan isn’t a huge fan of renewables – in February last year he stated:

“Renewables are the dole bludgers of the energy system, they only turn up to work when they want to.”

Then there was that “Black Coal Matters” thing in October last year.

Senator Canavan also jumped on the Barnaby BS bandwagon yesterday after a power outages in Sydney on Tuesday, declaring:

“How are we going to make more things in Australia if we can’t even keep the lights on in our biggest city? Time to build some reliable coal fired power stations.”

The situation in Sydney had nothing to do with electricity generation – these were network related issues. But Senator Canavan doesn’t appear to be overly concerned about letting facts stand in the way of garnering support for a coal power revival in Australia- and that speaks volumes about its ongoing prospects.

Sharma: Renewables Provide Lowest Cost Electricity

In an interview with Sky News yesterday, Liberal MP Dave Sharma wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the coal power element of the Nationals’ plan.

“I don’t think the jury’s out on this, I think the lowest cost of new energy generation sources is renewable energy and that’s even when you add in the costs of firming either with gas or batteries or pumped hydro, and that cost curve is only coming down,” he said. “Coal in fact is going up because it is less investible as an asset.”

CSIRO’s GenCost report released in December last year indicated wind and solar power continue to be the cheapest source of energy in Australia, even when factoring in extra system integration costs such as storage and additional transmission expenditure.

Mr. Sharma said the way to get cheaper power to boost Australia’s manufacturing sector is to smooth the transition of renewables into the grid.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/nationals-coal-power-mb1858/