Instability caused by coal and gas failures cannot be fixed by giving them more money
Greens MP Sue Higginson has blasted a plan to give out more money to operators of ageing and dangerous fossil fuel power plants following the announcement this morning from the Energy Security Board (ESB) that coal and gas power plants are included in the draft capacity mechanism to ensure stable power supply in the national market.
Greens MP Sue Higginson has blasted a plan to give out more money to operators of ageing and dangerous fossil fuel power plants following the announcement this morning from the Energy Security Board (ESB) that coal and gas power plants are included in the draft capacity mechanism to ensure stable power supply in the national market.
Sue Higginson said “Ensuring stability in our energy system is vital for individuals and industry but Energy Ministers from all states have directed the ESB to focus on emissions reductions in electricity supply and mechanisms that prop up old technologies like coal and gas are the wrong way to go,”
“Fluctuating prices for fossil fuels and global instability have put our energy market in the precarious position that we have found ourselves in and it cannot be resolved by further investment in power generation that relies on coal and gas or that further imperils our global climate,”
“Corporations that are trying to exit the coal and gas sector would be rewarded and incentivised to stay under this mechanism despite renewables and pumped hydro being capable of providing storage and firming capacity now,”
"Our energy market is being held hostage by operators that won’t turn on their generators because they have decided it isn’t profitable enough to do so, we can’t allow this mercenary approach when it comes to something as important as energy production,”
“The ESB should listen to the state Energy Ministers and direct this capacity mechanism towards new and renewable energy production systems to make sure that we are not held hostage by predatory and unstable fossil fuel corporations,”
“Australia has a natural abundance of energy and it is time that we reclaim our energy independence from global markets and fossil fuels to make Australia a renewable energy superpower.” Ms Higginson said