WITH tense discussions taking place over the future of the Eraring Power Station, the Climate Council says the NSW Government should ‘throw everything it’s got at ramping up renewable energy and storage’.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said the slated 2025 closure of Eraring can and must be upheld for NSW to stay on track to meet its emissions reduction targets and unlock a new era of affordable, reliable zero emissions energy.

“Now is the time for Premier Minns to accelerate the move towards affordable, clean energy sources like wind, solar, batteries and pumped hydro,” Ms McKenzie said.

“The renewable energy boom is our best shot at tackling the climate crisis.

“With the right policies, NSW can create thousands of new clean energy jobs, drive down power bills and continue to deliver reliable electricity supply for homes and businesses.”

The Climate Council has outlined three key steps the NSW Government could take immediately to ensure energy reliability and lower costs as coal-fired power stations continue to close.

“First, we need the Government to task the energy market operator with urgently bringing on more renewables and storage.

“It can do so by fast tracking tenders for new capacity, releasing a new tender for the 191 megawatts needed to fill the reliability gap caused by the exit of Eraring, and expanding NSW projects underwritten by the federal Capacity Investment Scheme,” Ms McKenzie said.

“The Government should also hurry up and approve the 2,300 megawatts of wind and solar projects that are waiting for approval to connect to the existing transmission network.

“The Government can actively engage with developers to get these projects underway.

“Further, the NSW Government should help large energy users like households, businesses and industry use energy in smarter and more efficient ways.

“This includes a large energy efficiency package for social and public housing, incentives for commercial batteries and demand response, and support for industrial load shifting.

“The renewable energy transformation is underway, but it needs leadership from the NSW Government.

“With the right policies now, Eraring’s closure can be managed smoothly while securing more affordable and reliable clean power.”

Last week the NSW Government released its strategy to ‘secure the reliable supply of clean and affordable renewable energy for NSW’ following the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up conducted by Cameron O’Reilly from Marsden Jacob Associates.

The Check Up found that there will be energy reliability challenges for NSW in the next couple of years.

As a result of that finding, the government will engage with Origin on its plans for extending the life of Eraring, at the same time as pursuing alternative solutions to deliver the renewable generation, transmission and storage solutions that NSW needs.

“One of the biggest challenges facing NSW is ensuring we can keep the lights on while managing the biggest change in energy mix and consumption in the shortest period of time in our nation’s history,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.

“NSW is committed to meeting its net zero ambition and transforming our electricity system to renewables as soon as possible.”

In a report released on Monday by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), experts have presented options for driving Australia’s progress towards a zero emission electricity system.

The short report, ‘Powering the Net Zero Transition: Electricity Security Explained’, responds to electricity as a critical lynchpin for driving decarbonisation across a wide range of sectors, like transport, buildings, and industry.

“As Australia moves towards a net zero energy system, electricity generated by solar and wind technology is poised to become our most dominant source of energy,” ATSE CEO Kylie Walker said.

“Our expert Fellows advise that we have sound technological solutions already.

“The challenge to transition Australia’s electricity system to accommodate more renewable energy sources is not the race to develop new solutions – it’s about the targeted investment in deploying existing technologies, and the infrastructure to store and transmit energy to provide reliable continuous supply.”

ATSE Fellow and Grattan Institute Climate and Energy Director, Tony Wood FTSE said, “In 2022, 35 percent of Australia’s electricity generation came from renewable energy, up four percent from 2021.

“Yet deployment rates, storage and supporting transmission expansion are not yet enough to achieve the Government’s 82 percent renewable energy generation target by 2030.”

The report finds that transitioning the electricity system to accommodate more renewable energy sources will require greater investment in existing technologies as well as innovation in new technology solutions to reduce consumer costs further.