As a decision on the proposed Kurri Kurri gas-fired power station looms, Hunter community members continue to call for the “climate-wrecking plant” to be rejected.
The Gas Free Hunter Alliance (GFHA) is asking NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes to reject government entity Snowy Hydro’s proposed $600M gas plant, situated 38km west of Newcastle.
The project is in the assessment phase and relies on a recommendation and determination by Minister Stokes.
Following its organised Gas is a Cop-Out Picnic yesterday, the Gas Free Hunter Alliance has organised a Snap Action Protest at Minister Stokes’s office tomorrow, with plans to deliver a petition of 35,000 signatures.
“NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes is due to make a decision on the polluting, unnecessary, $600 million Kurri Kurri Gas Plant very soon,” the event invitation reads.
“In the middle of big international climate talks, with the spotlight on these kinds of decisions, now is our chance to show Stokes that we want this climate-wrecking plant rejected.”
Snowy Hydro recently released its Hunter Power Project business case, outlining the plant’s purpose of filling the electricity gap created by the closure of the Liddell Power Station near Muswellbrook.
“The closure of Liddell Power Station will reduce NSW’s electricity supply by around 13 per cent and without replacement dispatchable capacity, this risks prices rising by around 30 per cent over two years,” it reads.
“By providing firmed energy, the Hunter Power Project, from within the Snowy portfolio, will facilitate an estimated 1.5 to 2GW of renewables, or the equivalent of 160,000 household solar installations.
“When Snowy Hydro uses gas energy to secure our solar and wind portfolio, it reduces emissions by approximately 87 per cent (pr 1.4 million tonnes) compared to the equivalent energy produced by Bayswater Power Station.”
GFHA co-coordinator Carly Phillips said there were little to no details about the plant’s economic justification in the business case.
She said all the public had been shown was a “16-page high-level overview, which doesn’t include any substantive information, such as projections of revenue, details of the cost or any analysis of alternatives”.
“Snowy Hydro is a Government Business Enterprise and should be providing fulsome information on the viability of the Kurri Kurri gas plant project. However, it should not hide behind the ruse that any such information is commercial-in-confidence,” Phillips said.
“Taxpayers are effectively paying for the plant and deserve to know if it makes any economic sense before a determination is made by NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes.
“At this week’s Senate Estimates hearing, Snowy Hydro conceded that the plant will only have enough gas storage on-site to run for six hours at a time, before needing to switch to expensive and polluting diesel, something that has been well concealed until now.
“It is also estimated that the lateral gas pipeline will cost around an additional $100 million.”
Energy finance analyst and gas expert from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis Bruce Robertson said the Senate Estimates hearing revealed Snowy Hydro relied on the “very volatile short-term gas market”.
“The high-level business case quoted gas prices that took no note of the current volatility of global gas prices. As a result, Snowy Hydro will likely get caught out by price spikes, and the returns envisaged of 12.3 per cent will evaporate,” Robertson said.
“If the returns given by Snowy of 12.3 per cent were actually achievable, unsubsidised without vast sums of public money, we would have seen many gas-fired power plants being built in the National Energy Market. Yet, we have seen none constructed without significant government subsidies.”
Phillips said she had concerns over the carbon emissions and believes the proposal was incompatible with the NSW and Federal Government targets of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
“The conservative International Energy Agency has categorically stated that no new gas infrastructure can be built around the world if we are to align with Paris Agreement climate commitments of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050,” Phillips said.
“Furthermore, the Snowy Hydro business case does not explore the competition in the National Energy Market from big batteries.
“Currently, 19 big battery projects are being assessed by the NSW Department of Planning alone and many more planned around the country. Yet, the business case makes no mention of this significant source of competition that is staring it in the face.”
The GFHA will hold its Snap Action Protest at NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes’s office at 1725 Pittwater Road, Mona Vale tomorrow (Friday, November 5) at 10am.
Phillips said it was a ticketed COVID-Safe event, and only double vaccinated people could attend.
To RSVP and purchase tickets, visit @Gasfreehunteralliance on Facebook or their event website.
Hayley McMahon
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