Australia needs to deal with the “facts and the reality” of the changing energy system — Audrey Zibelman, AEMO

The outgoing head of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Audrey Zibelman, says Australia needs to deal with the “facts and the reality” of the changing energy system, and not get bogged down by the politics of energy that questions whether the grid should be transitioning or not.

In her first interview since announcing her end-of-year departure from AEMO … Zibelman tells RenewEconomy’s Energy Insiders podcast that technology change is unavoidable, not political.

Zibelman also reveals AEMO’s key role in a new global partnership – the Global Power System Transformation Consortium – that brings together six leading energy system operators from Australia, the US and  Europe with the aim of “fomenting a rapid clean energy transition at unprecedented scope and scale.”

Zibelman says the sharing of knowledge and experience was the key goal of the new consortium that includes independent system operators (ISOs) from Australia, California, Texas, Ireland, Denmark, and the UK, all of whom are at the leading edge of the clean energy transition.

It also involves key global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as research groups such as Australia’s CSIRO, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, Imperial College London, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US. It intends to share its information with grid operators in developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

It’s actually a collaborative that’s made up of five of the six of the power system operators around the world to have more than 50 percent renewables in their mix,” Zibelman tells the Energy Insiders podcast.

“We’re looking at these issues around how do we integrate these resources better …. so that we can work together and solve these problems.”

Zibelman did not say much more about the Global PST Consortium, before its official launch next week, but its website shows that it appears to be more than just a collaboration and sharing of information. It describes its “visionary goal” as:
“Dramatically accelerate the transition to low emission and low cost, secure, and reliable power systems, contributing to >50% emission reductions over the next 10 years, with $2 billion of government and donor support for technical, market, and workforce solutions that unlock $10 trillion+ of private sector investment.”

— from “AEMO takes lead role in global consortium seeking rapid energy transition”, Gules Parkinson, Renew Economy

Do you want to help?

We’ve noted a few tasks with which we’d like some help from members.

Specifically, we’re looking for people who can contribute their time and knowledge to the following:

  • Drafting an SA version of transforming VIc
    — there are sections on food, transport, energy etc which need local examples of action in SA added
  • Writing content for the Adelaide FoE website
  • Looking after our facebook page and responding to queries
  • Preparing leaflets/banners for upcoming events

We will discuss this further in part two of the online meeting Oct 29th, or you can contact the secretary at adelaide_office@foe.org.au

Smart Energy Summit 2020 worth watching

Global Smart Energy Summit 2020 Event Summary

On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 September 2020 the Smart Energy Council and partners the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation and Zoom delivered an amazing lineup of international and local industry and political leaders in exploring ways to tackle the economic and climate crises simultaneously.

some of the stand out speeches from both days include:

More details at https://www.smartenergy.org.au/global-smart-energy-summit-2020-event-summary

 

Adelaide FoE Meeting Oct 29th, Online

We invite members and friends to join us for an online Zoom meeting at 6pm Thursday, October 29th.

David Noonan, Independent Environment Campaigner, joins us to talk about Nuclear mines and Waste Dumps

 

Zoom details:  FoE Adelaide meeting
Time: Oct 29, 2020 06:00 PM Adelaide
Part One: Guest Speaker David Noonan, talking about Nukes — Oct 29, 2020 6:00pm Adelaide time
<tea break: 6:40-6:50>
Part Two: Oct 29, 2020 6:50pm More discussion with David,
followed by details of the Transforming SA document,
and a discussion of FoE Adelaide activities.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75378123953?pwd=anFIeWttU1VCSUJDSzVjaWxwTEw0dz09

Meeting ID: 753 7812 3953
Passcode: 0gBQn1

 

Critical mass in Canberra puts nuclear dump in doubt

Kimba radioactive waste plans faces challenge in parliament following release of Senate inquiry report
Plans for a nuclear waste dump in the South Australian outback could still be derailed as opposition against laws clearing its path run into opposition from multiple political players.  Michelle Etheridge, Regional Editor, The Advertiser, September 14, 2020
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/kimba-radioactive-waste-plans-faces-challenge-in-parliament-following-release-of-senate-inquiry-report/news-story/5f0c57845cb063a6eed2003673350f78

The Federal Government faces a challenge to pass its radioactive waste bill through Parliament, amid dissent from a Labor Senator, the Greens and Independent Senator Rex Patrick.
A Senate committee probe into the draft legislation paving way for a radioactive waste site at Napandee farm, near Kimba, has recommended it be passed. However, dissenting reports from Labor’s Jenny McAllister, Greens Senator Sarah-Hanson Young and Mr Patrick have raised a raft of concerns, including it preventing the community from seeking a judicial review of the site selection process.

 

Under the plans, the Government will store low-level waste at Napandee permanently, and intermediate level waste for several decades.
Senator McAllister said the traditional landowners, the Barngarla people, were worried the new legislation specifying the site would override their right to a judicial review that would normally apply if Resources Minister Keith Pitt declared the location.   She said the Government had given “no compelling reason” for the change.
Senator Patrick said the bill emerged because “the Government botched its own site selection process to such a degree that it would almost certainly have seen a site selected through a ministerial decision overturned on judicial review”. The Government wanted the Senate to “fix up its mistake”, he said, but it could not do that “without serving up the majority of the stakeholders … with a plate of Government-cooked injustice”.
A Kimba Council-run ballot found 62 per cent of respondents supported the waste facility in their region. The Barngarla people lost a court battle to be included, later holding their own vote, which rejected the plans.
Resources Minister Keith Pitt says the nuclear proposal will bring more than 40 jobs to the Kimba area. While many in the community have welcomed nuclear storage as a new industry, providing more than 40 jobs and a $31 million community funding package, others are staunchly opposed. They have cited worries including the impact on agricultural land, and double-handling of intermediate level waste.
Senator Hanson-Young’s report said most of the 105 submissions the committee received opposed the bill and the broader SA community deserved a say in the project.
Mr Pitt said the committee’s report put the Government “one step closer” to a storage site for nuclear waste – “a process which has been ongoing for four decades”.  “The individual dissenting report by Senator McAllister aside, I would like to acknowledge the largely bipartisan approach to the location and construction of this facility,” he said.
Conservation SA chief executive Craig Wilkins and Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Dave Sweeney said the Senate split over the issue reflected broader community division. “This is completely at odds with Federal Government rhetoric of only proceeding with facility if there is clear majority community support,” Mr Wilkins said.
Senator Hanson-Young said the Senate inquiry showed the draft legislation was “a highly flawed bill”. “There are deep concerns that this bill blatantly seeks to prevent any right to judicial review of this process and sets in stone Kimba as the dump site against strong community opposition,” she said.