❓ The WA Minister for Energy addresses concerns about coal supply, particularly regarding imports from NSW and Premier Coal's performance, highlighting the government's actions to secure supply and praising Synergy's role. The Minister defends state ownership of Synergy.
AnsweredQoN 27Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SYNERGY —
PREMIER COAL SUPPLY CONTRACT
27. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
Yesterday, the minister answered
some questions on notice, asked by my colleague Hon Dr Steve Thomas in the
Legislative Council, about New South Wales coal being delivered to Collie.
Further to those questions, I ask the following.
(1) Will any more
coal be imported from New South Wales this year; and, if so, how much more coal
does the minister estimate will be required to be imported?
(2) How long did
it take to unload both ships at Bunbury port from the first ship docking to the
second ship being completely unloaded?
(3) Why is it taking so long to transport material to Collie?
(4) Is Synergy paying the contracted
price to Premier Coal for this coal or is it paying market rates?
PREMIER COAL SUPPLY CONTRACT
27. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
Yesterday, the minister answered
some questions on notice, asked by my colleague Hon Dr Steve Thomas in the
Legislative Council, about New South Wales coal being delivered to Collie.
Further to those questions, I ask the following.
(1) Will any more
coal be imported from New South Wales this year; and, if so, how much more coal
does the minister estimate will be required to be imported?
(2) How long did
it take to unload both ships at Bunbury port from the first ship docking to the
second ship being completely unloaded?
(3) Why is it taking so long to transport material to Collie?
(4) Is Synergy paying the contracted
price to Premier Coal for this coal or is it paying market rates?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4) In
respect of the price, I have publicly said on a number of occasions, both in
this chamber and the media, that the cost of the coal is the market price—that
is, the international market price. I was asked about this on ABC TV live and I
pointed out that unlike the New South Wales government, which is complaining
that other governments are not doing things to solve their energy problems, we
are just getting on and solving the problem.
Premier Coal is owned by Yancoal in China. Yancoal Australia is majority owned
by Yancoal but they are different companies. Premier Coal is buying coal
from Yancoal Australia. Synergy is not buying any coal on the east coast.
Yancoal is contracted to deliver that coal to the Muja and Collie stockpiles. That means that the transport and all
those matters are dealt with by Premier Coal. I have neither interest nor oversight. The reason that I say I have
no interest is because the only thing I care about is the delivery of
coal to the stockpile. When we decided to go down this pathway in September
last year, Premier Coal had not been delivering its contracted volumes and we
were nervous that it would continue to not
deliver its contracted volumes. We took two actions. The first was to arrange
for the Collie coal-fired power
station to be switched off for a longer period than it would have been anyway,
reminding the member that it was switched off three months, or 12 weeks,
when it would have been switched off for six weeks in any case just because of the operation of the market in Western Australia.
That saved coal and, of course , we also used the Muja stations after we
used some of the gas stations to save coal; plus, Premier delivered its contracted volumes, plus or minus a little
bit, every week from October to December so by the time we got to
Christmas, we had built up our stockpile to a very reasonable level. It is
pleasing to say that with the extra 100 000 tonnes, we are in a very good
position. If Premier Coal was to short deliver this year—we do not
think it will—we will be fine for next summer as well.
I
want to congratulate Synergy's leadership and workforce for their hard
work in managing the coal supply this year so diligently. It shows the
depth of talent of the Synergy leadership and workforce. The fact that it is a government-owned
enterprise meant that we were able to take these actions. If we had followed
the lead of the Liberal Party, which
intended to break Synergy into two parts and sell it, we would not have been able to have such a successful outcome. The challenge when we watch what is
happening at Bluewaters shows the benefit that we get from having a state-owned
enterprise in the generation system.
respect of the price, I have publicly said on a number of occasions, both in
this chamber and the media, that the cost of the coal is the market price—that
is, the international market price. I was asked about this on ABC TV live and I
pointed out that unlike the New South Wales government, which is complaining
that other governments are not doing things to solve their energy problems, we
are just getting on and solving the problem.
Premier Coal is owned by Yancoal in China. Yancoal Australia is majority owned
by Yancoal but they are different companies. Premier Coal is buying coal
from Yancoal Australia. Synergy is not buying any coal on the east coast.
Yancoal is contracted to deliver that coal to the Muja and Collie stockpiles. That means that the transport and all
those matters are dealt with by Premier Coal. I have neither interest nor oversight. The reason that I say I have
no interest is because the only thing I care about is the delivery of
coal to the stockpile. When we decided to go down this pathway in September
last year, Premier Coal had not been delivering its contracted volumes and we
were nervous that it would continue to not
deliver its contracted volumes. We took two actions. The first was to arrange
for the Collie coal-fired power
station to be switched off for a longer period than it would have been anyway,
reminding the member that it was switched off three months, or 12 weeks,
when it would have been switched off for six weeks in any case just because of the operation of the market in Western Australia.
That saved coal and, of course , we also used the Muja stations after we
used some of the gas stations to save coal; plus, Premier delivered its contracted volumes, plus or minus a little
bit, every week from October to December so by the time we got to
Christmas, we had built up our stockpile to a very reasonable level. It is
pleasing to say that with the extra 100 000 tonnes, we are in a very good
position. If Premier Coal was to short deliver this year—we do not
think it will—we will be fine for next summer as well.
I
want to congratulate Synergy's leadership and workforce for their hard
work in managing the coal supply this year so diligently. It shows the
depth of talent of the Synergy leadership and workforce. The fact that it is a government-owned
enterprise meant that we were able to take these actions. If we had followed
the lead of the Liberal Party, which
intended to break Synergy into two parts and sell it, we would not have been able to have such a successful outcome. The challenge when we watch what is
happening at Bluewaters shows the benefit that we get from having a state-owned
enterprise in the generation system.
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