Peter Dutton FINALLY reveals costings of nuclear energy plan – and why he expects ‘massive savings’ for your power bill
Coal and gas-fired power plants will stay open for longer under the coalition’s $330billion nuclear transition plan.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to build seven publicly-owned nuclear power plants across the country, with predictions the first will come online from the mid-to-late 2030s – a timeline rubbished by some experts.
‘This is a plan that will underpin the economic success of our country for the next century,’ he told reporters on Friday.
Renewables would make up just over half of Australia’s energy grid by 2050, with nuclear accounting for just under 40 per cent and the rest a combination of storage and gas, snippets of the plan dropped ahead of its release contend.
Labor’s plan is to have the grid firmed by just over 80 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
This will increase to more than 90 per cent by 2050 with the rest made up of storage and gas.
The coalition’s plan was modelled by Frontier Economics, which cost Labor’s transition around $600 billion, versus $331billion for the coalition’s nuclear plan.
Dutton promised ‘massive savings’.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to build seven publicly-owned nuclear power plants across the country
‘This means reduced power bills for households, lower operating costs for small businesses, and a stronger, more resilient economy,’ the Opposition leader said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has rubbished this number, saying the government’s renewable energy plan would cost $122 billion, citing a forecast made by the national energy grid operator.
‘They’re making it up as they go along,’ Mr Bowen told ABC TV of the coalition’s costings on Friday.
Mr Bowen said preliminary reports of the coalition’s plan ahead of Friday’s full announcement that nuclear would need fewer transmission lines – therefore bringing down the estimated cost – was incorrect.
The Coalition’s proposal favours nuclear reactors across the nation
‘I’m not sure how they’ll get the nuclear power into the grid, maybe by carrier pigeon if they’re going to assert if somehow you’ll need less transmission,’ he said.
‘They have had to make some very heroic assumptions here and they have had to really stretch the truth to try to get some very dodgy figures.’
Keeping coal-fired power plants open beyond their lifespan was a threat to energy reliability, with outages and breakdowns happening on a daily basis, Mr Bowen said.
‘It’s a recipe for blackouts to keep ageing coal-fired power stations in the grid for longer,’ he said.
The coalition is pushing for an end to Australia’s nuclear ban but has faced opposition from states.
