❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Energy about potential electricity supply shortfalls and system reliability. The Minister deflects by referencing past predictions and highlighting the complexity of WA's electricity system, the growth of renewables, and future investments.
AnsweredQoN 561Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ENERGY SUPPLY
561. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. Is
the increasing shortfall in the electricity supply over summer further evidence
of an increasingly unreliable electricity system?
561. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. Is
the increasing shortfall in the electricity supply over summer further evidence
of an increasingly unreliable electricity system?
AnswerView source ↗
I
just asked my office to find all the occasions on which Hon Dr Steve Thomas has said that we were going to
run out of electricity, because I note that today he says we are going to run
out of electricity not in 2023, 2024 or even 2025, but in 2027! If he is
still in Parliament in 2027, we can have that debate. The reality is that, yes,
Western Australia has a complex electricity system. It has to be independent
and it has to be managed with very large
swings in demand between peak and trough. There can be over 1 500 megawatts
difference between the peak and trough of demand on a single day. That
is an extraordinary effort. Remember that total peak demand is 4 500 megawatts.
We can have swings of up to 30, 50 or 60 per cent of demand. On one day last
year 82 per cent of the electricity in the
south west interconnected system was provided by renewables. That is why on 1 October
we will have the new market starting, we will go from a 30-minute
settlement to five-minute settlement, which will assist in more renewable
energy coming into the market. It will make the market more dynamic and
flexible. It is an important change that will allow us to integrate lower cost
energy into the system.
I want to finish on this: renewable
energy is what they call a ''zero marginal cost''. The cost is in
building the plant, not in operating the plant. That means that the electrons
themselves are the lowest cost electricity in the system, so when more of the
system uses renewable energy, exactly like we are planning to do here in Western
Australia and the likes of which are being done by my friends on the east
coast, it means—I will not say that the price of electricity will go
down; I am never going to say that—that there is no reason for
significant increases in the cost of electricity in the future. That is the
only reason we have a queue of companies coming to Western Australia asking to
build renewable hydrogen projects. It is because this is already a low-cost
industrial energy place, and that industrial
energy cost will remain stable over a long period, which means billions of
dollars will be invested here . I want to thank Chris Bowen for
understanding that. I want to thank Chris Bowen for the good work that we have
been able to do together. We have delivered $3 billion of federal government
investment here in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : That concludes
question time.
just asked my office to find all the occasions on which Hon Dr Steve Thomas has said that we were going to
run out of electricity, because I note that today he says we are going to run
out of electricity not in 2023, 2024 or even 2025, but in 2027! If he is
still in Parliament in 2027, we can have that debate. The reality is that, yes,
Western Australia has a complex electricity system. It has to be independent
and it has to be managed with very large
swings in demand between peak and trough. There can be over 1 500 megawatts
difference between the peak and trough of demand on a single day. That
is an extraordinary effort. Remember that total peak demand is 4 500 megawatts.
We can have swings of up to 30, 50 or 60 per cent of demand. On one day last
year 82 per cent of the electricity in the
south west interconnected system was provided by renewables. That is why on 1 October
we will have the new market starting, we will go from a 30-minute
settlement to five-minute settlement, which will assist in more renewable
energy coming into the market. It will make the market more dynamic and
flexible. It is an important change that will allow us to integrate lower cost
energy into the system.
I want to finish on this: renewable
energy is what they call a ''zero marginal cost''. The cost is in
building the plant, not in operating the plant. That means that the electrons
themselves are the lowest cost electricity in the system, so when more of the
system uses renewable energy, exactly like we are planning to do here in Western
Australia and the likes of which are being done by my friends on the east
coast, it means—I will not say that the price of electricity will go
down; I am never going to say that—that there is no reason for
significant increases in the cost of electricity in the future. That is the
only reason we have a queue of companies coming to Western Australia asking to
build renewable hydrogen projects. It is because this is already a low-cost
industrial energy place, and that industrial
energy cost will remain stable over a long period, which means billions of
dollars will be invested here . I want to thank Chris Bowen for
understanding that. I want to thank Chris Bowen for the good work that we have
been able to do together. We have delivered $3 billion of federal government
investment here in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : That concludes
question time.
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