Victoria sets 75-80% emissions reduction target for 2035, Net zero by 2045, New Renewables Targets VRET of 65% by 2030, 95% by 2035.

The Victorian Labor Premier, Dan Andrews, and Climate Change Minister Lily D'Ambrosio, have announced the State's 2035 emissions reduction target, new renewable energy targets and re-establishment of a  government Owned electricity supplier for the market.. 

The new 2035 emissions reduction target is set at 75-80% reductions on 2005 levels, and net zero by 2045. It places Victoria as globally ambitious in climate targets.

Victoria new renewable energy targets are 95% renewables by 2035, 65% by 2030.

The Victorian state government will undertake to build 4.5 gigawatts of publicly owned renewables and the reestablishment of a publicly owned electric commission. 

The government has estimated its energy plan will create 60,000 jobs by 2035. 

DELWP fails consumer choice on electricity plans and greenhouse gas emissions

The Victorian Department of Environment Land, Water and Planning provide a website to compare gas and electricity plans. But a problem with this website is it prioritises solely on price. Some people like myself would like the option to compare plans on social and evironmental utility - on the level of greenhouse gas emissions.

Compare electricity in Victoria? DELWP need to do better with this website on comparing energy offers. It fails to empower Victorian consumers in how to maximise reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in their electricity bill plans.

https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/

Thermal, wind and demand forecasting failed in South Australian Heatwave: AEMO

AEMO have released their preliminary report into the loadshedding and blackout of 90,000 south Australian residents and businesses during the extreme heatwave on 8 February.

In their summary of the event AEMO outline three main causes for the failure to match generation to demand. They specify that supply was rapidly changing in the period prior to the peak at 18:00, but the problem came down to:

• Demand was higher than forecast
• Wind generation was lower than forecast, and
• Thermal generation capacity was reduced due to forced outages

When you analyse the report it becomes clear there was available capacity (Pelican Point 2) that could have been brought on line to meet the demand, but the market based processes of AEMO failed.

It is important to emphasise here that Adelaide and most of South Australia on Wednesday 8 February was experiencing extreme temperatures in the middle of an exceptional heatwave. Climate scientists have been predicting that heatwaves would get more intense. This sort of extreme heat event is in line with their predictions.

Adding to the extent of the issue, AEMO ordered at the evening peak at 18:03 100MW of load shedding to balance supply versus demand, but it appears SA Power Network shed 300MW, much more than was required.

I reported initially on this event the day after, on February 9: AEMO orders South Australian #heatwave blackout while Gas turbine remains idle.

AEMO orders South Australian loadshedding blackout while Gas turbine remains idle #SAheat

Over 40,000 South Australian households endured a blackout yesterday evening for about half an hour during an extreme heatwave. AEMO ordered the loadshedding, but questions remain why the Pelican Point 2nd gas turbine wasn't fired up.

Quick Summary Wednesday 8 February SA Heatwave Blackouts

10:31am BOM SA advise an extreme heat warning issued by the SES based on BOM heatwave forecasting

1:30pm Briefing for media on heatwave conditions

2:17pm NEM watch reported the lack of online reserve in South Australia.

5:17pm Actual lack of Reserve (Level 1) , Actual Lack of Reserve (Level 2) at 6:17pm.

6:03pm AEMO ordered 100MW of load shedding to last to 7:30pm.

8:32pm SA Power networks tweeted that it was an "upstream generation issue managed by AEMO the Australian Energy Market Operator, not SA Power Networks".

9:16pm SA Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says that "Power shedding tonight was avoidable. There was sufficient local generation to meet our demand tonight, but AEMO didn't instruct it on! Why?"

10:23pm Tom Koutsantonis says to a question "Yes gas, South Australian Gas fired generation that should have been told to be on & wasnt!"

11:27pm SA Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says that "AEMO have informed the SA Government they got their demand forecast for SA wrong."

Renewables firmly favoured by Australian Public says poll

It should come as no surprise that the Australian public enormously favours development of renewables. This is seen not only in public opinion polling on the issue, but also the rapid take up of roof top solar presently on 1.4 million Australian homes.

Recent opinion polling (21 July, 2015) by Essential Research on renewables finds that 50 per cent of Australians think that the Federal Government should prioritise support for the renewable energy industry over the coal industry. Ony 6 per cent favoured priotising coal industry, and 28 per cent thought both industries should be treated equally.

Even amoung coalition voters 39 per cent favoured renewables to 14 per cent for coal, and 28 per cent equally.

California targets 50 per cent renewables by 2030 while fracking continues

California Governor Jerry Brown announced at his inauguration that Climate Change action would be prominent for his next 4 years of his administration. But all is not well in California with large public opposition to shale oil fracking championed by Governor Brown, and the state still being in the worst drought in 1,200 years exacerbated by high temperatures due to climate change. Fracking Opposition groups have adopted the slogan "Governor Brown: Climate Leaders Don't Frack"

Already California is on track to meet it's target of a third of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Brown announced that this should increase to 50 per cent of electricity generation by 2030, plus a 50 per cent reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, and to double the efficiency of existing buildings, and use cleaner heating fuels.

"And we must manage farm and rangelands, forests and wetlands so they can store carbon." said Governor Brown.

He emphasised the enormous need for collaboration between scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs businesses and officials, "I envision a wide range of initiatives: more distributed power, expanded rooftop solar, micro-grids, an energy imbalance market, battery storage, the full integration of information technology and electrical distribution and millions of electric and low-carbon vehicles. How we achieve these goals and at what pace will take great thought and imagination mixed with pragmatic caution. It will require enormous innovation, research and investment."

But under Jerry Brown fracking by Big Oil will continue in California. In fact, new reguulations for fracking in California have already been written, six months before the mandated scientific studies have been completed, according to environmental journalist Dan Bacher in this San Fransisco Bay Area Indymedia story. “California has essentially reversed the regulatory process when it comes to fracking,” said Jackie Pomeroy, spokesperson for CAFrackFacts. “State regulators have finalized California's fracking rules a full six months before any of the mandated scientific studies have been completed."

Fracking is just a glimpse into the dark side of Brown's poor environmental record revealed by Dan Bacher. See his June 2013 article in CounterPunch: Jerry Brown: Worse Than Schwarzenegger on Environment?, and his September 2014 article: Big Oil’s Favorite Governor: Jerry Brown.

Coal emissions rise as Australia experiences hottest October on record

Emissions from the electricity sector are now showing a clear increasing trend. The latest Pitt and Sherry CEDEX report shows that emissions from burning black and brown coal has increased and this has at least partly been attributed to the abolition of the carbon Price. September's emissions were 1.3 per cent higher than the month to June 2014 when carbon pricing was in place.

What was a slight rise in July-August, which was the largest 2 month increase since 2006, has now been clearly confirmed in the September data.

September also marked a light downturn in hydropower with gas also flatlining as more is diverted for the more profitable export trade, so we see more black and brown coal generation as part of the National Electricity Market (NEM):

The report details that:

"This change in trend has coincided with, but is not entirely caused by, the removal of the carbon price.  Other factors include reduced gas generation in NSW, Victoria and SA, presumably related to higher wholesale gas prices, though it remained high in Queensland where cheap “ramp gas is likely to be available for a little longer.  There was also considerably less wind generation in both August and September this year, compared with the same months in 2013.  Black coal generation was 0.5% higher in the year to September 2014 than in the year to June, and brown coal generation was 2.2% higher."

Carbon emissions rise from electricity generation - largest 2 month increase since 2006

The latest CEDEX assessment by Pitt and Sherry shows an increase in Australian electricity demand in June and July with rising supply from coal and gas since the Abbott Government abolished the carbon tax and talked about abolishing or emasculating the Renewable Energy Target with the Warburton Review.

Emissions rose by about 1 million tonnes - about 0.8 per cent. It is the largest 2 month increase since 2006 according to Peter Hannam in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The monthly Pitt and Sherry CEDEX report tracks carbon emissions, electricity contribution from different generator types and electricity demand.

This story was originally posted to Climate Action Moreland.

Open letter to Origin Energy on the Renewable Energy Target

Dear @originenergy, as a customer I have just contributed to put this ad on air in support of the RET in opposition to the submissions your company and of AGL Energy and Energy Australia.



I have been a good customer of Origin energy for several years buying 100% greenpower, and the purchase of my solar PV system through your solar division. In the past you have been an innovative market leader with your green electricity plans.

However, I am particularly distressed with your submission to the current Federal Government Renewable Energy Target review.

The review of the Renewable Energy Target was the proper job for the Climate Change Authority as contained in its legislative authority. This Government has chosen to ignore this legislative detail with their intention to abolish this authority through repeal of the legislation. This has still not been done and there is some doubt whether this legislative change will be made in the Senate. The government has instead chosen to setup their own review with handpicked people, like Dick Warburton, with strong biases against climate change and the importance of transitioning to renewable energy as part of Australia's commitment to reducing carbon emissions to mitigate global climate change under the UNFCCC process.

I disagree with your submission (PDF) that the LRET and SRET should be rolled back into one scheme and remove deeming. I also disagree with resetting the target to a "true 20%". This would effectively mean cutting the target from 41,000GWh (plus uncapped rooftop solar), to 23,000GWh (including rooftop solar).

Victorian Premier warns 100,000 premises may lose power during extreme heatwave

Original story by me at Climate Action Moreland

The Premier Denis Napthine warned Victorians that 100,000 premises may lose power during the extreme heatwave due to demand on the state's electricity grid. Thank you Premier, for your incompetence at managing electricity generation in Victoria.

Climate scientists have been warning of the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves, with a long term trend of increasing temperatures and 2013 being our hottest year on record. (See this 2009 study by Alexander and Arblaster - Assessing trends in observed and modelled climate extremes over Australia in relation to future projections (PDF))

Much of the electricity system is about managing peak demand through ensuring adequate generating capacity in the network. Victoria's continued reliance on aging brown coal fired generators with impediments to diversification through renewables has let down the electors and residents of Victoria, badly. We are now seeing the results of poor climate and energy policy at the state level.

Gas fired power stations for NSW and Victoria placed on hold

EnergyAustralia has announced shelving plans for construction of a 1000MW gas fired power station in the Latrobe Valley at it's Yallourn site saying that low wholesale energy prices and reduced electricity demand did not make the project viable. EnergyAustralia is a division of Hong Kong-based utility CLP Holdings Ltd.

EnergyAustralia's group executive manager, energy markets, Mark Collette, as reported in the Age, said that suppressed wholesale electricity prices and continued falling demand for energy had led to the decision. Proliferation of rooftop solar panels and energy-saving efforts by households and business were also contributing to reduced energy demand.

In Australia's east coast National Electricity Market demand for electricity has been falling since late 2010.

Coal protest: activists scale Yallourn power station Cooling Tower

Four days ago two intrepid climate change activists scaled one of the cooling towers at Yallourn coal fired power station in Victoria's La Trobe Valley. In the end they spent 30 hours on the cooling tower, the longest power station occupation of it's kind in Australia, finally coming down voluntarily to be arrested and charged with various offences.

The protest highlighted the enormous multi-million compensation being given by the Australian Government to power operators for the imposition of the carbon tax. The brown coal fired power stations in Victoria's La Trobe valley are some of the dirtiest most carbon emissions polluting power stations in Australia and the world.

Related: Latrobe Valley Coal power and Climate change | Further subsidies for Victorian coal by Victorian and Federal Governments

Electricity Demand Falling in Eastern Australia according to CEDEX

New research on energy demand in the National Energy Market (NEM) by Pitt and Sherry's carbon emissions Index (CEDEX) shows demand for power for electricity has been falling since late 2010. Power generation from black coal (mainly in NSW) has been falling since the start of 2009, while there has been a fall in generation from (Victorian) brown coal since July 2012.

Almost certainly the Federal Governments Renewable Energy Target (RET) driving construction of wind farms, and now the Carbon Tax increasing the cost of coal fired power, as well as energy efficiency programs and drop in electricity demand from consumers, has been driving these trends.

Federal Funding for new Victorian coal fired power station withdrawn

Yesterday the Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, announced withdrawal of $100 million funding for the HRL proposed coal gasification 600MW power station in the La Trobe Valley.


Environment Victoria and other Environment groups like Quit Coal, Greenpeace, Climate Action Moreland, who have been fighting the proposed power station, have claimed the withdrawal of federal funding as a major win in their campaign to stop new coal fired power stations being built. The $100 million funding was promised by the Howard Government if certain project milestones were met, which the company has not been able to fulfill.

Alcoa to review Point Henry smelter at Anglesea

Alcoa have announced a review of the future of Point Henry Smelter near Anglesea in a press release to the Australian Stock Exchange. The smelter at Point Henry has been operating for 49 years and employs about 600 people. Maybe the government subsidies that prop up an inefficient industrial plant need to be redirected into reskilling, retraining and relocating the 600 odd workers that face losing their jobs. This could provide the perfect opportunity for job creation in the renewable sector with the right range of government incentives. Sadly, the Baillieu track record on wind farms is beholden to the anti-wind farm lobby with Future wind power development in Victoria stifled by draconian planning regulations.

Rally says no to HRL coal power station in Victoria

About 400 people gathered in the sun, on the steps of the Victorian parliament for a weekday lunchtime protest to say no new coal fired power stations. The Rally was against the propoed HRL coal fired power station for Victoria. Speakers included Adam Bandt, Greens MP for Melbourne, Kelvin Thomson, Labor MP for Wills, Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, Safe Climate Campaigner for Environment Victoria, Greenpeace Energy Campaigner Julien Vincent, and Gem from AYCC.

Critical time for stopping the HRL Coal fired power station in Victoria

Victorian residents are fighting to stop the construction of a new 600MW coal fired power station at Morwell in the La Trobe valley. The HRL coal gasification plant proposes to turn brown coal into a synthetic gas which is mixed with natural gas to fire steam turbines to generate electricity. The pollution generated will be the equivalent of a black coal fired powered station, around 4 million tonnes of CO2 pollution each and every year.

John Howard awarded HRL $100 million, a low emissions technology 'clean coal' grant contingent on it meeting certain project deliverables including raising commercial finance by 31st December 2011. These conditions have not been met. Victorians will rally on Wednesday 1st February 2012 at Parliament House in Spring Street at 12.30pm for the Federal Government to withdraw this grant money and redirect it to renewable energy projects. And to ensure that Julia Gillard keeps her 2010 promise "that there will be no more dirty coal powered stations built in this country".

Related: July 2011 - Victorian Government needs to come clean on plan to achieve 20 percent emissions cut by 2020 | June 2011 - Ferguson and Gillard feeding HRL's coal gasification technology in Melbourne | April 2011 - Government foyer occupied to stop new Victorian coal power station | Campaign sites: Stop HRL, Quit Coal

Climate study: Australia falling behind in indirect carbon pricing

A report commissioned by the Climate Institute has analysed the indirect carbon price in the electricity generation sectors of six countries: Australia, UK, USA, China, Japan and South Korea, with Australia languishing at the bottom just ahead of South Korea.

"A direct and broad based price tag on pollution is required if Australia is to meet its targets at lowest short and long-term cost. However, it is also critical to ensure that our international competitiveness is not lost to other countries gaining early mover advantages in clean energy investment and reducing their economies' dependence on pollution," said Mr Erwin Jackson, Deputy CEO of the Climate Institute.

"Countries such as India are already taxing imports of pollution intensive products like coal. Putting a price tag on pollution is also insurance against possible trade measures aimed at highly polluting exports." said Mr Jackson.

Victorian Premier announces generous feed-in tariff for large scale solar power

While most people were watching the Federal political sphere, John Brumby, the Victorian Premier, surprised many with a major announcement on promotion of building large scale solar power to promote Victoria as the solar capital in Australia. The scheme will result in 5 to 10 concentrating solar thermal (CST) power stations to be built in the states' north and west by 2020, as well as medium scaler rollout of solar photovoltaic systems.

But action on climate change is a hot state political issue too, with a highlevel active campaign to close down the Hazelwood power station in the La Trobe valley, one of the dirtiest most poluting coal fired power station in the Industrial world. Lst Saturday over 30 community events were held in a National Day of action to Replace Hazelwood. As part of global action on climate change organised through 350.org, campaigners are organising a protest on 10/10/10 outside the Hazelwood station.

Once the Rudd Government announced deferral of the Emissions Trading Scheme for 3 years and lost public confidence the pressure transferred to state governments to act on climate, even though such action is likely to be piecemeal.

The Victorian announcement is for a generous feed in tariff for large scale solar thermal power plants to start the transition from coal-fired power to renewables as part of ithe state Labor Government's forthcoming policies for action on climate change. The target of 5 per cent of the state's electricity from solar by 2020 is in addition to the 20 per cent power from wind by 2020. The announcement comes as a new report confirms that Victoria could supply more than 100 percent of it's electricity from renewables.

John Brumby, while visiting Silex's solar test facility in Bridgewater, said "This commitment to a sustainable future for Victoria should see the establishment of between five and ten large solar plants across regional Victoria," Mr Brumby said "As a result of this initiative, Victoria will have up to 25 per cent of its power coming from renewable energy by 2020. This initiative will also provide new economic opportunities in regional Victoria, generating between $1.5 and $2 billion in new solar investment in Victoria."

The State Government has set an interim target of generating 500GWh of solar power by 2014. "This is in addition to power generated by the Silex facility and represents a massive increase on the present level of solar generation Australia-wide and is enough to power more than 90,000 homes." said Brumby.

The cost to household electricity bills was estimated at $5-$15 a year from 2014.

Gavin Jennings, the Victorian Climate Change Minister also announced action to support medium scale solar energy, such as installation of solar panels on large suburban shopping centres, "Generating their own electricity means businesses will not only help reduce emissions but they will save money on their bottom line - a win for business and the environment." he said. A Medium Scale Working Group would be established by the State Government to advise on what type of actions are needed to drive medium-scale solar power.

The Federal Government was urged to put a price on carbon to further drive investments into the renewbles sector to deliver deeper emission cuts. "A price on carbon is necessary to deliver the very deep reductions in emissions we need, but we need to forge ahead and tackle climate change through measures such as these." said Brumby.

The Federal Government of Julia Gillard has maintained the commitment by Kevin Rudd to reassessing an Emissions Trading Scheme in 2012, although the Greens are pushing strongly for the introduction of an interim carbon tax to start July 1, 2011.

The announcement from the State Government comes as part of a forthcoming policy on climate change in the lead up to the state election at the end of 2010. The Government is considering an initial 25 per cent phaseout of the coal fired Hazelwood power station, one of the most polluting and dirtiest in the western industrialised world, while climate and environmental activists are urging a total closedown of Hazelwood over two years.

Environmentalists and Greens welcome solar initiative

The announcement has been welcomed by environmentalists. "This is a bright move that will help Victoria get ahead of the pack in the shift to renewable energy", said FoE campaign coordinator Cam Walker. "It will be a popular initiative among the millions of Victorians who are looking for strong leadership on climate change. By fast-tracking more clean-energy projects like this, the Government will soon be able to replace the dinosaur Hazelwood coal-fired power station."

"In 2006 Premier Brumby committed to introducing a "landmark" Climate Change Bill so we expect that a centrepiece of the Government's Climate Change White paper to be released this month will be strong new climate change laws." said Cam Walker, "The White Paper should deliver a whole of government Climate Change Bill which sets ambitious emission reductions targets and is benchmarked on the Climate Change (Scotland) Act, " he said.

Environment Victoria also welcomed plans by the Brumby Government to fast-track the development of large scale solar power for Victoria. Environment Victoria's Campaigns Director Mark Wakeham said, "Today's announcement will make Victoria much more attractive as a place to build large scale solar power stations which can contribute to replacing polluting coal-fired power stations like Hazelwood within the next term of government."

"Victoria is likely to become the preferred state for large scale solar as a result of the premium payment provided by the feed-in tariff. If we can get projects off the ground quickly we may well be able to exceed the 5 percent target." said Mark Wakeham, "However if we want to lead the nation in both large scale and small scale solar we still need to improve the solar feed-in tariff for households and small businesses to catch up to the incentives offered in NSW and the ACT."

"In the absence of national leadership and a price on carbon Victoria will need to take further measures to support energy efficiency and clean energy to ensure that we can replace the whole of Hazelwood power station and achieve significant cuts to our greenhouse pollution in the next term of government." he said.

The state Liberal party came in for criticism on climate action, "So far the only climate policy we've seen from the Coalition is a plan to stymie the development of wind power. If Ted Baillieu wants to appeal to the vast majority of the community who want action to reduce greenhouse pollution he needs to get some runs on the board quickly." concluded Mark Wakeham.

The Greens have also welcomed Victorian Premier John Brumby's announcement of a gross feed-in tariff for large-scale solar plants and urged both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to embrace a national feed-in tariff to support all forms of renewable energy. Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said today "A properly designed feed-in tariff is recognised as the reason Germany, Spain and some US states have seen tremendous booms in renewable energy, creating jobs and investment, cleaning the air and reducing emissions," Senator Milne said. "Premier Brumby is to be congratulated on his decision today. He is leaving Julia Gillard in his wake, although he still has a fair way to go to catch up with the Greens."

It is likely Prime Minister Gillard will announce grants for development of solar projects as part of the Government election campaign. Senator Milne criticised this approach for renewable energy as not strategically developing the sector. "One off, ad hoc grants do nothing to develop the industry. They will see Australia importing technologies we have driven offshore through lack of ongoing support."

"If we want to create jobs and long-term investment, as well as drive the transformation to 100% renewable energy, we need a well-designed national feed-in tariff." said Senator Milne "While I welcome Premier Brumby's announcement, the expansion of state-based schemes can lead to perverse outcomes for investors, particularly in the context of the national renewable energy target."

Report confirms Victoria's abundant renewable energy resources

A new report for the Victorian Government by Engineering consultants Sinclair Knight Merz - Renewable Resources Victoria: the renewable energy potential of Victoria - has confirmed that Victoria's future energy needs could be entirely met from renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and wave.

According to the report renewable energy could provide up to eight times Victoria's current energy consumption and double the the estimated future demand by 2030.

Minister for Energy and Resources Peter Batchelor said on the release of the report "For nearly a century, Victoria has relied heavily on coal, oil and gas to supply us with relatively cheap but highly polluting energy. Now, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions while our demand for energy continues to grow. As we begin this transformation, this new report confirms that Victoria is well placed to seize the opportunities that will arise, creating new skills, new jobs, new investments and new ways of making and using energy."

The report was based on a similar study for the UK which found that it was unlikely the UK had sufficient renewable energy resources to meet it's energy needs. While talking up the report Peter Batchelor also stressed moving to a low carbon economy would not happen overnight, "Technology for harnessing some of these resources is still in its infancy and very expensive. In addition, as technologies develop new infrastructure will be needed and must be appropriately managed and located to take into account social and environmental impacts," he said.

The initiative by the Victorian Government follows a report by Beyond Zero Emissions and the Melbourne Energy Institute at Melbourne University of a detailed and costed plan of action on How to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2020 for Australia.

Sources

• Media Release - Victorian Premier John Brumby - Victoria shines in solar action on climate change
• Media Release - Victorian Minister for Energy & Resources - New report shows renewable energy potential
• Media Release - Environment Victoria - Solar moves help clean up Victoria's energy supply
• Media Release - Friends of the Earth - Support for large scale solar a bright move
• Media Release - Greens Senator Christine Milne - Gillard and Abbott should follow Brumby to feed-in tariff for baseload solar

Bayswater carbon pollution under legal challenge by NSW climate activists

Two members of Newcastle climate protest group Rising Tide are challenging in the NSW Land and Environment Court the amount of carbon pollution emissions allowed by the coal fired Bayswater Power Station owned by Macquarie Generation. Macquarie Generation produces 12 to 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide pollution every year.

Rising Tide members Peter Gray and Naomi Hodgson launched the action against the Bayswater Power Station in July 2009.