SACOSS welcomes the state government’s long-awaited energy plan announced today. The six point plan appears to be a comprehensive intervention to build on our strengths and fill some of the gaps that have led to the issues of security and reliability of our supply.
SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley says, “The biggest challenge for the state government is to intervene in a way which drives competition in the market and leaves the doors wide open to the advantages we all anticipate will come from rapid enhancements in renewables and storage technologies.”
“We are very pleased to see the government proposing to fund these interventions from general revenue. This doesn’t place added pressure on prices nor will it undermine the value of concession payments.
“The situation illustrates exactly why SACOSS has consistently argued that we need our governments to have access to an adequate tax base — to ensure they can respond to critical community needs such as the delivery of essential services like our power.
“The government’s proposal to back battery storage and help shore-up security is welcomed. Taking this to tender should attract interest from across the world.
“However, it’s very important that we examine the technology behind the battery storage proposal to ensure we get a system based on the latest scientific knowledge available.
“Of course we also welcome the fact investments in this area will also drive jobs growth, both during the build stages and into the future, if SA can be positioned as a leading hub of innovation around the renewables and storage industries.
“SACOSS has consistently argued that gas can play a role as we transition to a clean energy future, and ideally we would have a national commitment to climate policy embedded in either a carbon pricing system or an emissions intensity scheme.
“The measures announced today appear to support this.
“We do note though that while we support the importance of having a safeguard in place in the form of a new state-owned gas power plant, we are cautious about the costs and modelling surrounding this, especially given its likely intermittent contribution. There is a real need when investing this kind of money to ensure we get the best bang for our buck.
“In the absence of federal government action and delays in modernising the NEM, the SA Government has understandably been forced to take this extraordinary action and put in place policies to put downward pressure on price and increase security and reliability.
“We strongly encourage the federal government to immediately join with SA and other state and territory governments in generating an economy wide emissions intensity scheme.”