A cell in Australia’s battery?

Lake Parangana

SEPTEMBER 2018 | Antonia Howarth-Wass

With Lake Parangana and Lake Rowallan in Meander Valley currently being sized up for pumped hydro, local renewable energy enthusiast Antonia Howarth-Wass considers the case for climate change and pumped hydro in Tasmania.

THE RUCKUS within the federal government seemed more about policy on climate and energy rather than a populist leader devoid of conservative values.

Discussions on power involves discussions about climate and climate policy. It is not just about sustainable, secure and affordable resources. The various issues require agreement with the states and they overrun political divides.

The issue of climate change is deeply rooted in science and recorded facts scrutinised by the United Nations International Protocol on Climate Change (IPCC). The global community is in agreement that governments need to bring to the table plans for reductions in greenhouse gases, notably CO2, and strategies for generation of renewable energy.

It’s a no brainer, yet in spite of the temperature increases (and corresponding decreases), the worst recorded droughts on the eastern seaboard and extreme weather conditions which cost $bns, there are still hard core politicians who think they do not have to bow to the evidence and think laterally about electricity and fuels or to consider environmental conditions for our survival. Politicians would do well to talk science, not economics as we have known it.The debates are shared by every government on Earth. And there are still 1.1 billion persons who have no electricity.

Australia is amongst the three most recalcitrant developed nations on climate change policy, some of whose politicans want to recant on the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement (Australia became a signatory in November, 2016). 196 nations agreed to keep increases in temperature to less than 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels and zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions during the second half of the 21st century. They also agreed to pursue efforts to limit temperature increases to 1.5°C which requires zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050, but with no timetable as incorporated into the Kyoto Protocol.

The National Electricity Market (NEM) was a mechanism for price reductions in electricity with a National Energy Guarantee (NEG) to back it up. The discussions failed due to lack of consensus within the Coalition and between states. The former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ploughed on but with no resolution. A commitment to complete abandonment of fossil fuels as adopted in Victoria over a 15 year phase out period could not be agreed because costs and reliability outweighed security or lack thereof. It talked about a national grid but did not include WA. SA went it alone with wind turbines and battery storage supplied by Elon Musk.

Tasmania, through Hydro Tasmania, has produced a document called Battery of the Nation which aims to give the state 100% renewable energy through conversion of 11 existing dams from Hydro Power to Pumped Hydro, with the addition of reservoirs where required. Water will be re-cycled through turbines, using wind power for uptake from lower to higher reservoirs. The proposal makes sense. Tasmania has water and wind in abundance, certainly in comparison to other parts of Australia. The state could power its own needs with limited cost.

But the plan goes further. With 90% of Tasmanian power supplies currently renewables, market analysts concede that facilities are massively underdeveloped. Tasmania could be a net exporter of power to the mainland with the addition of more undersea cables across Bass Strait.

As prices are market driven, to justify such investment costs of up to $1bn per cable, a larger market is required. Victoria is currently investing in solar power for 600,000 additional homes.

The key to profitability for Tasmania lies in interconnectivity. But without a national plan upon which states are agreed, it seems doubtful that such grand operations can be justified.

While Stage 1 is outlined in the report and is available for public consideration, discussions are also underway for a second Bass Link cable with assessments being made by developers and consumers.

Also known as a ‘water battery’, pumped hydro has been tried and tested successfully elsewhere.

Photo | Hydro Tasmania