Thread: Big storm and no power in SA

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I think the public wants whoever is in government to put aside the stunts and point-scoring and ensure two things:
1. There is a reliable and affordable power supply.
2. Greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced.
I really can't see why some people seem to think those two objectives are so hard to achieve.

Unfortunately, I don't think governments are omnipotent, and you are asking for three things - reliable, affordable, reduced greenhouse emissions. I think you will find this is another case of "you can have any two, but not all three".

The ultimate answer probably should be reliable and reduced emissions, but being real life, I suspect that what will happen is that in trying for all three we will get none of them, certainly not soon, and without further drama.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

The ultimate answer probably should be reliable and reduced emissions, but being real life, I suspect that what will happen is that in trying for all three we will get none of them, certainly not soon, and without further drama.

John

given that our power isnt cheap, it should be reliable and reduced emissions but here we are.

IMG_0606.jpg

lots of 'experts' here who don't take any notice of the experts.....

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Unfortunately, I don't think governments are omnipotent, and you are asking for three things - reliable, affordable, reduced greenhouse emissions. I think you will find this is another case of "you can have any two, but not all three".

The ultimate answer probably should be reliable and reduced emissions, but being real life, I suspect that what will happen is that in trying for all three we will get none of them, certainly not soon, and without further drama.

John

Coal will be phased out andsome gas will assist baseload and lower emissions. Renewables and battery storage will explode.
Wind and solar power are cheap once installed, and wind is holding down SA power prices.
It is coal which drives up prices when wind is lower because the coal and gas companies take advantage to withhold supply and force up spot prices to inflate their returns and gouge consumers. This is market failure.
More wind, solar and battery storage plus government intervention to prevent market failure would improve the SA situation. The national power grid must also be better inter-connected.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Coal will be phased out andsome gas will assist baseload and lower emissions. Renewables and battery storage will explode.
Wind and solar power are cheap once installed, and wind is holding down SA power prices.
It is coal which drives up prices when wind is lower because the coal and gas companies take advantage to withhold supply and force up spot prices to inflate their returns and gouge consumers. This is market failure.
More wind, solar and battery storage plus government intervention to prevent market failure would improve the SA situation. The national power grid must also be better inter-connected.

Don't think so.
On what has been presented in this thread, wind, or more to the point, reliance upon it, & lack of it, is what is negatively affecting supply, & causing great inconvenience, to many South Aussies.
Pickles.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

wind is holding down SA power prices.

power prices were cheaper before wind came in.

Ahh. Battery storage - those non-green, high density, high cost, extremely complex systems that require huge amounts of tech and energy to actually run

Yes they're installing them - subsidies are paying for a chunk of them in the install phase but ongoing costs are bloody high.

Wind generation isn't holding down SA prices - a price is not held down when it's $2500 mWh vs NSW at $98 mWh... and oh look.. they're barely producing today....

High temps means high demand - SA has traditionally low winds during high heat events.

You can't say many sentences about the State Electrical Network without using the word "Cluster" somewhere in the sentence...