NSW set to power itself on more gas

Adelaide Advertiser
Wednesday 24/3/2010 Page: 65

GAS will be the transitional fuel to help plug future electricity generation shortfalls and reduce carbon emissions in NSW, the State Government says. Energy Minister John Robertson has called for increased private investment in gas projects and exploration while renewable energy sources remain "unreliable". "I'm very conscious, as is the premier, that we need to do more about attracting investment in gasfired generation," he said in a speech to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia yesterday.

"Wind and solar.., are unreliable, so you need something to back up, when the wind stops blowing and the sun is not out. "Gas is the energy source. The CO2 (CO2) emissions are less than half that of coal and they don't use as much water as coal-fired power stations. "Everyone wants some certainty over the price of carbon. "Certainly where I sit, looking at gas as a transitionary fuel, we need a price on carbon to make gas competitive."

Despite talking up the merits of gas, he wouldn't say whether it or coal will fuel two new power stations, in the Hunter region and at Lithgow, west of Sydney. The Government approved concept plans for the 2000-MW power stations in early March. Climate change campaigners claim the carbon emissions from the new plants, if they're run on fossil fuels, will be akin to doubling the number of cars on NSW roads.

But Mr Robertson defended the state government's climate change credentials. "Our state plan sets an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050," he said. Mr Robertson's speech also tackled energy infrastructure spending and accusations of neglect. "Critics argue that we should have replaced some of these assets before today," he said. "But this is unnecessary given our high network reliability. Reliability is currently above 99.975%.