Coal industry, Coalition take aim at household solar

The fossil fuel lobby and the federal Coalition government have shifted the sights of their anti-renewable campaign from the wind industry to household solar as the divide deepens between the left and right on climate change and clean energy policies.

solarpanels

The release this week of the parliamentary report into the retirement of coal fired power stations has highlighted the ever deepening divide between the Coalition and Labor on energy policy. A bi-partisan approach to energy policy seems no closer than it has since Tony Abbott took over as leader of the Liberal Party in 2009.

If anything, it has widened since Malcolm Turnbull regained the part leadership, and the divide has been sharpened since the shock presidential poll win of Donald Trump.

Energy minister Josh Frydenberg has used the release of the parliamentary and the recommendation of the Labor and Green representatives for an orderly transition out of coal power, a course of action that is even recommended by the International Energy Agency if climate targets are to be met.

“Labor has revealed its true colour – and it’s green,” Frydenberg said in a media statement issued on Wednesday, before citing the Labor-Green statement that so shocked him: “The question is not if coal-fired power stations will close, but how quickly and orderly these closures will occur”.

It is clear that the Coalition and the fossil fuel lobby are “digging in”, for want of a better term. We’ll take a closer look at the Coalition’s dissenting report, and its reliance on submissions from the Institute of Public Affairs, in tomorrow’s edition. Today, though, we are going to take a look at their argument that household solar is the new big energy issue.

The scene was set last week by the Australian Energy Council, which issued its own report into the South Australia energy transformation, and its response to issues raised by the recent blackout, and the growing share of variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

The report is striking for two reasons. One is that it completely ignores storage as a technology solution, giving it one scant reference on the last page of its 15-page summary. The other is its focus on the perils of household solar, which it says could meet all of the state’s minimum demand needs as early as 2013.

“This is significant for a number of reasons: rooftop solar PV systems cannot be controlled by the market operator, so they will generate depending on the weather conditions at the time,” the AEC writes.

“They do not provide power quality services, indeed solar PV systems can be very volatile under intermittent cloud conditions, meaning power quality would need to be potentially provided as a pure service, not in addition to the provision of generation.

“It is unclear how available power would be distributed across the grid, given the high penetration of rooftop PV in some post codes and lower penetration in others.”

You can see what’s happening here. A scare campaign against the impact of rooftop solar. The fact that rooftop solar installations could be so big as to meet minimum demand was first raised by the Australian Energy Market Operator, and WA has made similar forecasts.

But this is simply a reaction from consumers to the extraordinarily high cost of grid energy, which has been significantly high in both South Australia and in West Australia (where it is heavily subsidised) for more than a decade.

The costs imposed by excessive network generation and the market exploitation by fossil fuel generators is simply adding to those costs. But this is never addressed by politicians or regulators. Instead, the blame is shifted to wind and solar.

And ignoring battery storage in a supposedly in depth analysis of the issues facing South Australia is extraordinary, not least because the state is the scene of some ground-breaking initiatives, such as the virtual power plant, the network-cost saving batterys storage trial by SAPN, and incentives from the Adelaide City Council and the state government.

Indeed, as Bruce Mountain has pointed out, the cost of rooftop solar and a battery storage device such as the latest Tesla Powerwall 2 is 25 per cent cheaper than the cheapest grid offer from the state’s retailers.

That is likely to create a boom in the market, and having battery storage will provide not just add stability to the grid, but spread the solar power into the evenings and morning peaks.

But Frydenberg also had a go at rooftop solar, making mention of the so-called “duck curve”, which emerges when rooftop solar hollows daytime demand, the time when fossil fuel generators traditionally exploited “peak demand” to charge higher prices to boost their profits.

Frydenberg also raised concerns about rooftop solar and meeting demand peaks. But as the local network operator has already made clear, rooftop solar in South Australia has already narrowed the peak, and pushed it several hours into the late afternoon, and early evening. Battery storage will push it even further into the evening, or may even eliminate it.

Frydenberg said however, that “rooftop solar is creating challenges for fairly sharing the costs of supplying electricity.

“While solar PV and battery storage can offer significant benefits to households and the network as a whole, it is important to get the pricing framework right, otherwise some households will be unfairly forced to pick up the tab for other people’s choices. ”

Let’s hope he is not talking about even higher fixed charges or penalties for those with battery storage, such as mooted “solar tax.”

“While solar PV and battery storage can offer significant benefits to households and the network as a whole, it is important to get the pricing framework right, otherwise some households will be unfairly forced to pick up the tab for other people’s choices. ”

Frydenberg is right to point out that solar and battery storage will change the nature of the electricity market, and the the NEM was “designed for another world.”

The point that this ignores is that the only way to bring down electricity prices for all consumers is to reduce network costs, which make up half the bill or more in most states, and the only way to do that is to write down the value of the assets built for redundant business models.

Ignoring that reality, and insisting that consumers continue paying for an asset being bettered by competing technologies. Which is not to say that networks themselves will become redundant. They shouldn’t. But their purpose will change along with the technologies and business models. And they need to be priced accordingly.

Frydenberg is also kidding himself about the cost of wind and solar. Despite admitting that the cost of these technologies had fallen further and faster than any pundits predicted even five years ago, he still seems to believe they can’t compete with new build coal and gas plants.

He cited the 2016 Australian Power Generation Technology report that wind and solar PV are “cost-competitive” with fossil fuel generators with carbon capture and storage, but wouldn’t be competitive with new build technologies generally until 2030.

This assessment is laughable. For a start, CCS doesn’t exist in any practical form and its cost estimates put it way out of the ball-park. Wind power is being built in Australia for around $60/MWh and solar for less than $100/MWh. No one in the energy industry seriously believes you could build a new coal or gas plant for lower prices.

Comments

48 responses to “Coal industry, Coalition take aim at household solar”

  1. Dan Spencer Avatar
    Dan Spencer

    the report left out solar thermal storage, batteries were considered…

  2. DevMac Avatar
    DevMac

    “Labor has revealed its true colour – and it’s green” That’s why they’re always above the Libs on my ballot.

    It sounds as if many of the points Frydenberg makes are in the context of the grid as it currently is (as it was designed however many decades ago), as opposed to the grid “how it could be”. Very much a “change is bad” point of view – which is conservative ideology through and through.

    If rooftop solar doesn’t work well with the current grid, the solution isn’t to stand still and lament its shortcomings, the solution is to make the grid work better with rooftop solar, and isn’t that what microgrids are designed for?

    Ignoring the environmental side (since we’re under a National Liberal Government) rooftop solar has halved my annual power bill, and isn’t that something that politicians can get behind? cheaper power for all? Coal is only good for humanity because it produces power. Money is a language that gets votes.

    And then there’s this little piece of hypocrisy:
    “otherwise some households will be unfairly forced to pick up the tab for other people’s choices. ”

    He’s not complaining about “how the market works” is he? How very socialist of him. Sounds a bit “green” to me, and maybe shade of “red” in there too.

    1. Cooma Doug Avatar
      Cooma Doug

      Well said DevMac.
      Fried Berger is not understanding the ecconomics. Solar and storage gets cheaper and affordable. Putting up the cost of grid energy as we leave the ship will make it easier to jump. It will make some installation finance deals look really good.
      It will be a really obvious choice in about two years. Base load grid energy will be a really bad product.
      It will be the store at the sunday market selling the same thing at twice the price.

    2. neroden Avatar
      neroden

      The COALition opposes cheaper power for the masses. Of *course* they do. They want higher profits for the people who are already rich (such as the price-gouging gird operators).

      You have to understand what right-wing parties are like. The LibNats are mostly reverting to form, behaving like traditional right-wing parties — defenders of aristocracy, defenders of inherited wealth, defenders of entrenched power.

      “Right wing” was a term coined in the French Revolution. It referred to the monarchists. The meaning has not changed.

  3. George Darroch Avatar
    George Darroch

    Turnbull/Abbott’s war on our environment continues.

    Conservatives own climate change. It’s theirs, and we will make that clear.

  4. aussiearnie Avatar
    aussiearnie

    “Rooftop solar is creating challenges for fairly sharing the costs of supplying electricity”. Wrong. It’s creating challenges for the guaranteed returns on ill considered network investments. Maybe it’s time to write down some of those assets instead? The fair cost of supplying electricity does not include the consumes picking up the tab for baad investments.

    1. Tobias J Avatar
      Tobias J

      The stranded assets created by the fossil-fuel phase out is what scares them.

  5. Ken Dyer Avatar
    Ken Dyer

    Frydenberg is a fool, but a fools who follows his fossil fuel masters. Cheapest solar power ever here.
    http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/breaking–worlds-cheapest-solar-power-contract-signed-for-dubai-mega-project_100027046/#axzz4RSkSdz4v
    Solar is not going away, it is a simple economic fact, no matter how Frydenberg spins it.

  6. Robin_Harrison Avatar
    Robin_Harrison

    The left aren’t any more ‘green’ than the right. Both sides are run purely on ideology where logic, reason, facts and truth are optional and disposable extras. Common sense has no chance against ideology, just look at religions.
    The Greens have done more damage to the environmental cause than anyone by taking it into this stupid bunfight and placing it on the left where roughly 50% of the population will never vote for them on ideological grounds. Had they maintained a separate identity, the lock the gate movement with over 95% environmental concern shows they would be the government by now.
    Fortunately, despite the distortions of ‘business as usual’, the economics don’t depend on ideology and the economics of RE are irresistible.

    1. Rod Avatar
      Rod

      I guess the Greens would like to appear to be a viable option and as such tend to get caught up in non environmental issues which put them at odds with many voters.
      I agree if they emphasise their core goals as suggested by their name they would build a large core of loyal supporters.

      1. Robin_Harrison Avatar
        Robin_Harrison

        Too late, they are well and truly perceived as lefties in a purely ideological environment. There’s no way back from that.

        1. Tobias J Avatar
          Tobias J

          Only if you view the world as “the left” and others.

          1. Robin_Harrison Avatar
            Robin_Harrison

            I don’t subscribe to notion of right and left but our political system does and therein lies the problem. The environment we depend on for our survival is not of the right or left, it’s of the earth.
            One of the more ridiculous aspects of our ideological system is the left maintaining society is more important than the individual and the right maintaining the individual is more important. Both are profoundly wrong, we are a social species of individuals therefore both are paramount. It’s highly unlikely the ideological lunacy of our political systems can provide for that.
            There’s some good news. Our political systems, where leadership is always determined by who is the most convincing unprincipled, lying thief, is completely unsustainable. One way or another it will stop.

          2. neroden Avatar
            neroden

            The ancient notions of “right” and “left” politics were developed in the French Revolution.

            Left: in favor of democracy, equality, rule of the people
            Right: in favor of monarchy, aristocracy, rule of those who inherited wealth and power

            The definitions really haven’t changed at all as far as I can tell. As a result, I suppose I am a “left winger”.

          3. Robin_Harrison Avatar
            Robin_Harrison

            Just because concepts have longevity doesn’t mean they are worthy.
            Irrespective of how it starting or the reasons we’ve been given, our adversarial system divides society almost exactly in half on ideological grounds. While we are restricted to an unwinable ideological argument ‘business as usual’ carries on regardless. It’s a system completely manipulated by the 1% and the right/left concept serves them not us.
            Since this unsustainable system won’t last there must be other approaches if we are to survive.

          4. neroden Avatar
            neroden

            I’ll agree with the fallacy of “individual” v. “society” (frankly I think it was always a phoney, a fraud, a way for right-wing parties to try to appear more legitimate than they really were) but the fundamental aristocracy-vs-democracy divide is VERY visible right now.

            Which party is trying to support the people who are already rich and in power, and which party is trying to give outsiders a chance? It’s bloody obvious in every country I’ve looked at: the right-wing party is always, always, trying to support the incumbent rich-and-powerful. Sometimes the so-called left-wing party is too, but not always.

          5. Robin_Harrison Avatar
            Robin_Harrison

            Unfortunately most so called left wing parties are also owned by ‘business as usual’. The entire system is. At the top of the ‘business as usual’ pile is the 1%; the wealth and influence manipulating a dualist, adversarial political system and convincing us it represents the voice of the people rather than the gag.
            In any case our choice always boils down to either of 2 unprincipled lying thieves.
            Don’t believe the hype.

    2. Tobias J Avatar
      Tobias J

      I only agree with your conclusion. What is this stupid bunfight?

      1. Robin_Harrison Avatar
        Robin_Harrison

        Have you ever watched parliament? If your kids behaved like that they would spend a lot of time in the naughty corner.

  7. Cooma Doug Avatar
    Cooma Doug

    Im 62. I have watched world politics and history closely all my life.
    Climate change is by far the most serious issue I can find at any time. Its up there with the great flood and Noahs arc.

    Sadly I heard a talk by one of Donald Trump’s favourites where the Republican said, “climate change is a hoax” and in the same talk suggested the story of “Noah’s Arc is all true and the necessary proof of the Chinese scam”….not sure I agree with what ever this man thinks.

    So I listen to parliament today and also the shadow treasurer talking about the future at the Canberra Press Club. The greatest threat in human history didnt get a mention…zero. Our entire nation is in a political denial.

    Aside from this madness, the transition process may well be a huge ecconomic boom. We will be in this denial state referencing the bible in question time while India and China rake in the boom.

    I have been predicting things fairly well over the years. Am I wrong with this one? I do hope so.

    1. MrMauricio Avatar
      MrMauricio

      In Abu Dhabi, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has told
      his people: “In 50 years, when we ship off the last barrel of petrol, we
      will not be sad. I promise you, my brothers and sisters, we will be
      celebrating.” This is because of all the investments that will have been
      made in zero energy and other twenty-first century industries in the
      interim.

      1. neroden Avatar
        neroden

        And they will. Abu Dhabi is moving FAST on solar, wind, batteries, etc.

        Saudi Arabia will be crying because they’re not.

    2. Rod Avatar
      Rod

      Yes we missed our chance.
      Most of the early work on PV was done here but we never took advantage.
      We have great RE resources but aren’t using them.
      I used to think Australia was 20 Years behind the rest of the World but I swear under this mob we have gone backwards.
      One quote I remember about the mad monk was “Here is a man who doesn’t believe in Climate Change but believes in God”
      Oh mighty Zarquon!

      1. Robin_Harrison Avatar
        Robin_Harrison

        I’m really enjoying watching their efforts to protect the fossil fools bite them on the bum. Everything they are doing makes RE+storage more economically attractive.
        Politicians take note, stupidity is incurable.

        1. Rod Avatar
          Rod

          It is so blatant it is embarrassing.
          Surely enough voters will wise up to their antics before the next election.

          1. trackdaze Avatar
            trackdaze

            Cognitive dissonance suggests many will listen to those that say everythings fine status quo no matter how facts suggest otherwise.

          2. Tobias J Avatar
            Tobias J

            “Shallow ideas can be assimilated; ideas that require people to
            reorganize their picture of the world provoke hostility.” – James Gleick

          3. Cooma Doug Avatar
            Cooma Doug

            Conitive dissonance will indeed make the mind seek to preserve their reality. People smoke because of this rather then any chemical handcuffs. This, even though they are bombarded with strong advertising against smoking.
            Denial is a mental wall against any logical change to our self reality.
            There is one instinct that will crack that wall. That is the survival instinct. But as can be seen from the smoking example, it needs to be a serious threat to cause change. So it wont happen to the oldies.
            We have to teach the needs of the natural world to children and start really early.

          4. MaxG Avatar
            MaxG

            Don’t hold you breath… somebody must have voted for them!

          5. Rod Avatar
            Rod

            Not guilty!
            All the bogans around me in the interminably long voting line were going to vote for Xenophoney. “That’ll show em” Groan…..

          6. Robin_Harrison Avatar
            Robin_Harrison

            But which unprincipled, lying thief do you want your vote to go to? There’s only a choice of 2 in our dualist, adversarial system. The difference between a professional politician and a merchant bankster, or in the USA a real estate salesman, is the spelling.

    3. Robin_Harrison Avatar
      Robin_Harrison

      We’re in the middle of the most significant transition our species has ever experienced, towards a sustainable future. It’s bigger than coming down from the trees, the discovery of fire and the industrial revolution. The survival of our species didn’t depend on those.
      I wouldn’t take bets either way but the odds are increasingly shifting towards success. 50 years ago hardly anyone was environmentally concerned and now the vast majority are. In addition the economics of sustainable practice are truly compelling.
      BTW don’t expect any help or sense from a political system almost wholly owned by ‘business as usual’ and running purely on ideology.

    4. MaxG Avatar
      MaxG

      Doug, I agree with you. It is sheer madness; however, the people deserve their leaders. All whining and outrage means nothing, when the average voter, also undereducated, goes to the polls and votes for these clowns. My father used to say: stupidity reigns the world. And right he was.
      I have done what I can; that it move out inot the sticks; be self-reliant with water, electricity, and soon food… and then enjoy my last 15 odd years — if I last that long 🙂

      1. Mike Dill Avatar
        Mike Dill

        I’m not out in the sticks yet, as I still have a few more years before I can afford to leave work behind. What I am planning is putting in a secondary panel that is isolated from the grid for my solar and storage. Right now I can run everything except my kitchen and heating and cooling off of what I produce.

        1. Rod Avatar
          Rod

          I’m thinking along the same lines. The house currently uses 4kwh/day most of the year so wanting to just go off grid with Fridge, AV stuff and maybe a powerpoint in the kitchen.
          Just concerned I might lose the SA premium fit coz I’m making big $ with my exports.

      2. solarguy Avatar
        solarguy

        For the last 7yrs we have received the over generous NSW SBS which paid 60 cent FIT. We used that money to invest in a bigger PV system, going from 2kw(installed 2008) to 6.7kw, 2yrs later. Our home was built in 2006 and came with a flat plate SHW system, but it didn’t do the job in the cooler months, so since I was selling ET SHW and my customers were reporting great winter performance, we replaced it with one from our stock and never looked back. It works so good that so far this year to date we’ve only boosted 8 days.
        Soon we will install a nice big Hybrid system, increasing the PV Array to 9.3kw, a Schneider XW 6.5KW Inverter/Charger coupled to a big juicy 968 Amp battery bank.
        A new Net meter will be installed today, so all looks good going forward. If the utilities don’t work with us in the future we will jump off grid.

    5. Ian Avatar
      Ian

      The human family has faced many crises, and climate change is one of them, I wouldn’t get too apocalyptic or quasi-religious about this one. This may well turn out extremely badly for us all, and that is why this story is so interesting and urgent to sort out. Acknowledgement of anthropomorphic climate change is not the preserve of labor over liberal, or atheist over Christian, young over old or female over male , educated over uneducated. Each of these groups can hold traditional ideas and either believe-in or deny climate change.

      Does it really matter if China rakes in the renewables economic boom? If they can do what they have done best – bring manufactured goods to the world at a good price then bully for them. Let the solar panel, battery storage manufacturing fest begin!

    6. neroden Avatar
      neroden

      The good news from Australia is that the states are ignoring the escaped lunatics who are running the federal government. State premiers seem, for the most part, a lot saner.

  8. Peter G Avatar
    Peter G

    “…rooftop solar PV systems cannot be controlled by the market operator…”
    Tells only half the story.
    Grid operators have been controlling distributed load with ripple control for half a century. Ripple was all about power quality control by time shifting and intermittent load to meet the needs of inflexible coal and nuclear generation. Today digital technologies or even ripple control could easily manage dispatchable distributed loads to to contribute to balancing and integration of high level of renewables, even without batteries.

    1. Rod Avatar
      Rod

      When I was in the game, there was a dedicated Demand Side Unit.
      I’m guessing once privatised that approach went out the door.
      Something as simple as staggered hot water system boosting would make a huge difference to evening spikes here in SA.
      I know large users are interruptible but on a residential scale not much happening.

  9. Askgerbil Now Avatar
    Askgerbil Now

    Interesting that Josh Frydenberg “cited the 2016 Australian Power Generation Technology report that wind and solar PV are “cost-competitive” with fossil fuel generators with carbon capture and storage, but wouldn’t be competitive with new build technologies generally until 2030.”

    The Australian Energy Council’s “Solar Report”, September 2016, has a table on page 9 that shows rooftop solar PV electricity is now cheaper than the retail price paid by domestic consumers in EVERY capital city in Australia. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f15bbefb751ccd7b9f22c090a3a792e351b8acd0825de038871cd179c0c2017.png

    1. john Avatar
      john

      The figures do make the minister’s statement rather hollow.

  10. MaxG Avatar
    MaxG

    Hubris is hubris — no matter what the title… this government is so full of it… it is not funny!

  11. Chris Fraser Avatar
    Chris Fraser

    Buying solar is, for now, a personal choice, “Otherwise some households will be unfairly forced to pick up the tab for other people’s choices. ” That’s like saying some people choose to negative gear an investment property, so other households are unfairly forced to pick up the tab in the form of high rents. What sort of Liberal are you ?

  12. Brian Tehan Avatar
    Brian Tehan

    Australians from a wide range of political persuasions love their solar systems and a lot of them will be buying batteries in the next couple of years. Discouraging rooftop solar will lose them a lot of votes.

  13. onesecond Avatar
    onesecond

    The average Australian voter obviously enjoys to get thoroughly screwd by the unholy alliance of the COALition and the fossil fuel lobby. There is no other way to explain that these parties are still in power other than a death-wish coupled with masochism.

  14. Ray Miller Avatar
    Ray Miller

    The emperor without any cloths comes to mind. When you are on the wrong side of history and physics, no amount of believing your own flawed propaganda is going to change the reality of our cooking planet. The longer the charades continue the more embarrassing and serious the consequences become, the bogans, when they wake up will be very harsh on the perpetrators.

    Re Energy Transition Plan we do not have.
    A number of credible and respected Australian individuals and organisations have submitted over the year various energy transition plans, the elements of which have been well researched. Arguably the plans understated the plummeting costs of many of the renewable technologies and energy storage. The key successful strategies frequently include;
    – change mindset and thinking, everything is finite
    – understanding earth sciences and how our planet works.
    – energy efficiency, more focus on energy services delivery and wast reduction
    – use of the massive renewable energy resources, taking advantages of the many diverse forms and the advantage of geographic spreading of collection.
    – recognition of the importance of social and health issues in any transition
    – understanding our economic systems, what they can do, what the weaknesses are and being prepared to make changes to suit.

  15. Jonathan Prendergast Avatar
    Jonathan Prendergast

    Tony Wood (Grattan Institute) and Gavin Dufty carried on about this (non-solar customers subsidising solar customers) for 30 minutes at the All Energy conference, ignoring the much bigger cross subsidy towards those that turn their AC on on hot days.

    Now MP Josh Freidenberg is taking it up. Is there any data or analysis to support it?

    It’s a red herring. The focus should not be on these incidental problems along the way. The transition should be accepted, and appropriate regulatory changes made to make the transition fair and cheap (and fast!).

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